The Higher Rates for Hybrid Rental Cars

The Higher Rates for Hybrid Rental Cars

When my aunt and uncle recently traveled to San Francisco, their flight arrived hours late and they then had to wait nearly three hours at the airport for a rental car to be available. The rental company tried to appease them by offering a Toyota Prius hybrid as an extra perk. It was an upgrade, the agent told them.

Turns out the agent was right. I recently did a quick search on Travelocity for green rental cars in San Francisco, and Toyota Prius models or similar green cars were generally priced at a large premium over equivalent rental cars. So how much more does a hybrid rental car cost, and why is the premium so high?

The exact search I did on Travelocity was for a green car (think hybrid) to be picked up on June 28 at San Francisco International Airport and dropped off at the same place on July 2. The premium for a Toyota Prius or similar vehicle was from about 30 to about 70 percent. At Alamo Rent A Car, for instance, to rent a Toyota Prius or similar vehicle costs $123 — 71 percent more than the $72 it cost to rent a nongreen standard class vehicle (like a Pontiac G6), according to Travelocity.