Come Jan. 1, Europcar Mobility Group is implementing an environmental contribution fee which will be applied to all rental car transactions, for all drivers. It will be based on CO2 emissions levels taxation, hence depending on vehicle category and country legislation.
On Sept. 1 of this year, the Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP), a new global procedure to measure vehicles emissions, replaced the current New European Driving Cycle, which had been in use since the 1990s.
It was created following the “Dieselgate,” in order to better reflect CO2 emissions with a realistic vehicle usage, in a context of rapidly growing consciousness that they have reached an unsustainable level for the planet.
As the leading player of the car rental industry in Europe, with a fleet of more than 350,000 vehicles, Europcar believes that reducing its environmental impact is a collective responsibility: no only the responsibility of the company, but also the responsibility of all the drivers it serves.
The environmental contribution will help Europcar sustain its fleet mix optimization program, involving all of its brands (with a progressive roll out beginning with Europcar and Buchbinder: France and Germany in January and the U.K. on April 1), so as to constantly keep CO2, as well as particles emissions to the lowest possible levels, basing this fleet mix on the latest and cleanest motorizations provided by manufacturers.
The Group fleet structure is already “CO2 light” (average vehicle renewal cycle: 9.2 months, average CO2 emission level: 115.9 g/km), but is convinced that — with the support of customers — it can reduce this environmental impact even more.