Fed up with skyrocketing gas prices? Here’s your guide to renting an electric or hybrid vehicle.

If you've recently filled up your tank, you're well aware that gas prices are steep and only expected to rise. This week, the national average for a gallon of gas reached $3.30. It's the highest rate we've seen in over six years.

Factors like a shortage of gas delivery drivers and heightened demand are fueling this price increase. Additionally, there's a significant shortage of rental cars, prompting many to seek alternatives, particularly electric or hybrid options.

The simple answer is yes, but renting one might cost you more than the savings on gas.

How challenging is it to locate an electric car at this time?

Finding any car right now is quite a challenge, and that includes rental vehicles, regardless of whether they are eco-friendly or not. My colleague Andrew Kunesh authored a comprehensive article detailing this trend. To summarize, many rental agencies offloaded their fleets during the peak of the pandemic, and now the rising demand is colliding with a significantly reduced supply. The car buying landscape is equally tough, largely due to a shortage of essential parts in production.

Karen Schaler, founder of Travel Therapy TV, shared her struggle of trying for months to rent or lease an electric vehicle in Arizona, only to find none available. She eventually purchased a hybrid from California and had it shipped to her. Currently, she is "still on a waiting list." According to Schaler, outside of California—where electric and hybrid car regulations have been ahead of the curve—there's a limited inventory available.

At TPG, we dedicated a day to finding an electric car to rent, but had very little luck. In fact, we couldn't locate any options through traditional rental car agencies. You’ll likely have a better experience with car-sharing services, and I’ve recently developed a fondness for Turo.

Consider car-sharing with platforms like Turo

If you're looking for a guaranteed electric or hybrid vehicle, Turo is your best option. This relatively new platform allows you to rent cars directly from individual owners when they're not using them.

I registered for the service, which operates similarly to an Uber app, and checked for vehicles in my then-current location, Anchorage, Alaska. I discovered several cars available at the last moment, including some eco-friendly options. For $149 a day, I could rent a 2018 Toyota Prius. There was also a 2020 Tesla Model Y available for $130 a day.

While the selection of electric cars in Alaska was limited, a search in Los Angeles revealed an abundance of e-vehicles. Options included a Tesla Model S for $320 a day, a Tesla Model X for $252 a day, and a Toyota Prius Prime for $68 a day.

There was even a hydrogen-powered 2017 Toyota Mirai available for $112 a day, which came with the hydrogen fuel included.

This summer, I rented a hybrid vehicle in Maui, Hawaii, and it was an amazing experience despite a few bumps along the way, saving me a lot on gas at 44 miles per gallon.

Travel writer Cory Moore shared on Twitter that his experience renting an electric car through Turo was so positive that he "ended up buying one." However, he cautioned that charging isn't always free, stating, "For what it's worth, Supercharging a Tesla at highway speeds costs nearly the same as $2.50–$2.75 for gas."

Matt Bennett rents out his Tesla in Missoula, Montana, through Turo. He shared in our TPG Lounge on Facebook that "… it has been incredibly popular so far. I charge a premium for it and am quite selective about my renters, but it has proven to be quite profitable."

Several readers in the Lounge expressed their concerns about finding charging stations, which made them hesitant to rent electric vehicles.

Kyle Gossman made an excellent observation when he stated, "Generally, the additional cost of renting an electric car will likely outweigh any savings on gas." Gossman rented out his own Tesla in 2018 and noted, "Overall, I find owning electric vehicles has considerable benefits. We haven't owned a gas car in over five years. However, when traveling, I still opt for gas vehicles due to their lower costs and flexibility."

Consider renting an electric vehicle from one of the major rental agencies.

If you’re aiming to rent an electric vehicle from one of the major car rental companies, prepare for a challenge. We checked random dates during the summer of 2021 in June and July at airport locations in major cities like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. While we found some hybrid options, we completely missed out on fully electric vehicles. Very few car rental websites even mention electric cars, with Sixt being one exception.

Every rental company, except for Thrifty, claims to offer hybrid options. However, due to limited availability and confusing category listings, booking one proves to be quite challenging. Budget appears to be the only site that simplifies the process.

Most rental agencies categorize midsize hybrids separately on their "car types" pages. Yet, when you attempt to reserve one, it simply displays all midsize vehicles without a way to filter for hybrids.

Alamo

Alamo asserts they have hybrid vehicles (see link), but I conducted several searches for random summer dates across major cities (New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle) and found no availability. It’s unclear whether this is due to the type of vehicle or the general shortage in rentals.

Alamo even features an electric vehicle landing page, but unfortunately, it's all about "no availability" for them.

Avis

Indeed, Avis has a selection of hybrid vehicles, including the Toyota Prius hybrid, the Hyundai Sonata hybrid, and the Lexus GS 410H F Sport. However, finding them can be quite challenging. I did locate a Toyota Prius hybrid in San Francisco for June, but the booking also mentions "or similar," so a hybrid isn't guaranteed. The pricing is comparable to that of non-hybrid models. Avis also had no electric cars available.

Budget

Budget provides a range of hybrid models, and I found them available at airports in most major cities mentioned earlier, with the exception of Los Angeles and New York, during random summer dates.

Dollar

The Dollar page I’ve linked categorizes "Mid-Size 2- or 4-door, Hybrid Air," which promises a "Ford Fusion Hybrid (or similar)." However, when you click through and conduct dummy searches, it lists cars in the midsize category that are not hybrids.

When you go back to adjust the parameters, the drop-down for car type doesn’t even include the midsize hybrid category, so it seems difficult to ensure that you'd receive a hybrid, particularly if you book online. (I also stumbled upon other random pages, including one for Montreal, that showed Priuses as options, so it might vary based on your rental location.)

Hertz

Hertz also features a dedicated page for both electric and hybrid vehicles. Sadly, booking these options proved to be challenging here as well, despite Hertz boasting about adding electric vehicles since at least 2010.

National

When I attempted to make a booking through the hybrid landing page, it directed me to a selection page for car types, but none of the options listed included hybrids.

Sixt

Sixt has a specific page for electric vehicles showcasing a fleet that includes models like the BMW I3 and BMW I8, yet we were unable to locate any of those cars available during our searches.

Thrifty

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any information regarding electric or hybrid options on their website whatsoever.

Rent through Lyft

Lyft provides rental cars in select markets through its app.

In San Francisco and Los Angeles, Lyft operates its own fleet, allowing you to rent vehicles directly from them. In certain markets, they even provide eco-friendly hybrid cars to drivers.

The exciting part? Lyft offers a wide range of environmentally friendly vehicles, including the 2019 Hyundai Ioniqs, which achieve an impressive average of 58 miles per gallon.

My colleague Andrew Kunesh has put together the complete guide here.

How about renting from a car dealership?

You can indeed rent vehicles from car dealerships, a concept that many of us at TPG weren't aware of until this unexpected year of the car rental apocalypse. It's not always a straightforward process, so be mindful of that in general, and even more so regarding electric vehicles.

For instance, you can rent a vehicle from a Toyota dealership, and there’s even a dedicated website for that purpose. I discovered 10 dealers in the California Bay Area alone where you can rent a Prius.

To arrange a rental, you'll need to reach out to the dealer directly.

You could take it a step further and purchase or lease a new electric vehicle for a week, then return it to the dealership. Don't scoff; Tesla actually allowed this for a while.

Watch out for insurance complications

Be mindful of insurance considerations when renting electric or hybrid vehicles. Certain policies might exclude coverage for luxury models like upscale Teslas or BMWs.

Most Turo lenders offer insurance options separately on their platform. This can be quite complex, so it's important to do your homework. The majority of Turo rentals I've observed include Liberty Mutual insurance provided "through Turo Insurance Agency."

My colleague Chris Dong examined the coverage available through Chase when renting a car with their credit cards. Generally, the Chase Sapphire credit cards provide a primary collision damage waiver if you use your card for the rental. While Dong notes that there’s nothing explicitly prohibiting coverage for electric vehicles in the Chase Sapphire Reserve and Chase Sapphire Preferred Card benefits, there is a distinction regarding "high-value motor vehicles."

For instance, the Chase Sapphire Preferred specifically states that it does not cover "high-value motor vehicles," and Teslas are included in that category.

Our top recommendation is to reach out to your credit card provider if you're renting something out of the ordinary to ensure you're covered.

Image courtesy of Sheila Fitzgerald/Shutterstock.