Most business travellers (81 per cent) are not currently renting electric vehicles (EVs) on their trips, according to a survey by travel management company BCD.
The poll, which the TMC shared with BTN, found that 13 per cent of travellers “rarely” rent EVs, while only one per cent “always” book this type of vehicle.
The reasons respondents offered for not booking electric options included "complex logistics" (46 per cent), "low availability at the rental location" (35 per cent) and the "short range" of EVs (33 per cent). Around 12 per cent said their company policy does not include electric vehicles.
Sustainability also rarely influences a business traveller's car rental choice: Just 9 per cent said they are "often" or "always" guided by environmental considerations, while 46 per cent said they "never" are.
For this research, BCD surveyed more than 900 business travellers in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa who had all rented a car at least once in the past 12 months.
Among those travellers who currently rent EVs for business trips, 18 per cent indicated that their employers encourage them to do so, while 51 per cent cited their "lower environmental impact".
Other reasons for business travellers renting EVs included: 29 per cent who wanted to "try an electric car”, 24 per cent cited "wide availability at the car rental location", and 20 per cent own an EV and "know how it works”.
EV rentals often can come at a premium cost compared with petrol-powered vehicles, and 18 per cent of survey respondents said higher rental cost was the reason for not renting EVs. Another 18 per cent said they were not comfortable driving an EV.
The findings come two weeks after Hertz announced it was selling 20,000 EVs in the US - about one-third of its global EV fleet - citing higher maintenance and repair costs as one reason for the fleet readjustment. It also is replacing those cars with petrol-powered vehicles "to meet customer demand".
“This survey shows there's still a significant challenge when it comes to promoting the use of electric vehicles for business travel,” said Olivia Ruggles-Brise, BCD’s VP of sustainability.
“This reflects the wider challenges of infrastructure and range that impact the uptake of EVs in general. Nevertheless, moving from petrol vehicles to electric will become increasingly important as new legislation requires companies to measure and report the carbon emissions of their business travel.”
Other Findings
BCD reported that about 54 per cent of respondents typically visit two or more locations when renting a car for business.
Around 38 per cent have rented a car to visit the company office, while 37 per cent have done so to attend a client meeting and 34 per cent to provide onsite support or service. Just over a quarter (28 per cent) cited training or team-building events as the reason for using a rental car.
More than nine in 10 travellers (93 per cent) have picked up their rental cars at airport locations, while 12 per cent have done so near their home for local travel. Just 4 per cent had picked up a vehicle at a train station and 3 per cent in a city centre.
The top influencing factors when renting a car for business include the employer's policy (69 per cent), convenience (46 per cent), price (34 per cent) and loyalty programme (33 per cent).
Although car rental suppliers have increased their fleets since the peak of the pandemic, just 9 per cent of respondents said they believed availability had increased during the past year and 33 per cent thought it had reduced.
With price one of the top factors for rentals, 42 per cent said they believed car rental prices increased in 2023, while costs stayed the same for 34 per cent of respondents and dropped for just 1 per cent of respondents.