Europcar

Helping get zero-emissions ready
Europcar is empowering businesses and individuals alike to go greener in their mobility. Focused on widening awareness of the role vehicle rental can play in helping businesses and individuals reduce their environmental impact, Europcar champions the idea of vehicle usership over ownership.  

Having developed a number of mobility solutions that provide an effective alternative to vehicle ownership, Europcar is dispelling the myths and changing attitudes around electric motoring, ultimately helping drivers and fleets to reduce emissions. Whether drivers rent an electric or hybrid car or van for a few hours, several days, weeks, months or longer, Europcar is supporting the evolution towards zero emissions driving.

Helping fleets go green
Europcar has always been committed to delivering the solutions and services its customers need. An important facet of that mission is carrying out detailed, regular business and consumer research to identify changing needs and trends. In 2023 the company sponsored studies into the current and future sustainability plans of businesses and the ‘green’ wishes of their employees,

Not only do the findings help drivers and businesses learn more about sustainable mobility and the options available to meet their needs. They also shape Europcar’s low and zero emissions solutions - ensuring that products, services and support are aligned to customer need.  To gather further insights, a team of Europcar employees took part in the 2023 GreenFleet EV Rally. Using four vehicles, more than 20 drivers gained unique and invaluable insights to shape Europcar’s strategies for the future.

The right vehicle for the journey
Of particular importance to businesses is having access to a wide range of vehicles, so that the best vehicle can be selected for each journey or job. Europcar is therefore working closely with the majority of OEMs as well as a number of new supply channels such as retail and remarketing in order to ‘flex up’ the fleet and give customers more EV choice. Current EV partnerships include Tesla, MG, Mercedes and GWM. By the end of 2023 12% of the company’s car fleet was BEV or PHEV.

Walking the talk
As well as a growing fleet of BEV and hybrid vehicles available for customers to rent, Europcar has introduced a number of initiatives to reduce its own emissions – walking the talk when it comes to sustainability.  86% of its company car drivers now drive electric - giving Europcar customers access to ‘first-hand’ personal experience when considering making the switch.

EVs are also used as runner vehicles by Europcar drivers for the company’s Delivery & Collection service, accounting for 39% of D&C mileage driven and saving 91 tonnes of CO2. 86% of vehicles driven by Europcar employees are electric. And Europcar’s Connected Fleet strategy cuts out unnecessary journeys and reduces emissions because employees know when and where vehicles are for collection, ending wasted or unnecessarily extended journeys.

Fully charged EV support
To help customers opt for greener vehicles when they come to rent, Europcar has created a unique digital EV guide to educate and inform. And a partnership with Zapmap enables drivers to access EV charging information to plan their journey as well as compare the cost of a journey on electric versus ICE to see the immediate savings they can make by driving electric. Plus, a network of Certified Electric Vehicle Experts support customers at vehicle handover. Coupled with the wide range of electric and hybrid vehicle options and support with charging, this has already had a significant impact on customer choices. EV adoption by Europcar’s clients is steadily increasing, with 3.5 million EV miles driven by customers in 2023 - that’s 50,000 more EV days y-o-y. The significant investment in support for new adopters of electric also means Europcar’s Net Promoter Score for electric vehicles is currently running 10 percentage points above the score for ICE vehicles.

Further smoothing the way and helping fleets switch to zero emissions, Europcar has invested in its own infrastructure. In 2023, the business installed more than 200 EV charge points across its UK network, and 60% of its stations are now fully electric ‘Green Locations’, powered by renewable energy through Europcar’s electrical suppliers.

Removing the barriers
Europcar believes dispelling myths about EV driving is a vital step towards carbon neutral mobility. That’s why it is offering invaluable support to businesses and private motorists taking their first steps towards greener travel.

To find out more about Europcar’s sustainability solutions visit here.