A “bottleneck” in the availability of electric vehicles (EVs) and lack of consumer demand are slowing the decarbonisation of car rental.
That is according to Europcar Mobility Group public affairs director Jehan de The, who told the A World for Travel forum in Nimes: “We have a goal to be 100% EVs by 2036. But there are not enough EVs on the market.
“Our aim is to reduce emissions by 46% by 2030. The bottleneck is the availability of EVs. There is [also] a lack of demand. Consumers fear to rent an EV on holiday because of the lack of infrastructure. It’s not at the level it should be.
“Most of our customers are experiencing an EV for the first time. If you don’t know how it works, it’s not easy. You have to download an app to refuel; there is no price, so you don’t know what it costs. The next time you recharge there is another app and still no price. We have to make it simpler and transparent.”
However, De The insisted car rental is more environmentally friendly than owning a car, arguing: “We buy cars for less than one year, which means we have the most efficient fleet – 40% more efficient than the global fleet now and 50% more efficient by 2024.”