Travellers looking for EVs to save on gas won't find them at car rental companies

An electric vehicle charger is seen in Ottawa on June 27, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang

Steve Liborio was caught off guard by a sudden increase in interest in electric vehicle rentals, several years after the car rental industry’s foray into EVs failed to get the traction it had hoped for.

Since Liborio doesn’t carry EVs at his Thrifty Car Rental franchise in Burlington, Ont., the pressure shifted to his small but mighty fleet of hybrids to keep up with consumer demand, he said.

“People don’t usually call and ask for a hybrid,” he said. “It’s more the EVs.”

Customers tend to take him up on the offer of a hybrid, even though it costs $10 more per day, because they save more than that on gas money, he said.

As higher fuel prices strain traveller budgets this summer, some Canadians are looking to EVs to steer clear of gas stations. But with EV rental inventory tight, many won’t find what they’re looking for on the rental lot.

This fresh wave of interest in EVs comes after a spike in gas prices this year. That sits in contrast to what Liborio has seen in recent years: a continued preference for gas cars as drivers felt unsure about EV ranges, anxiety over finding the next charging station and spending hours charging it over the course of the trip.

Some companies sold off their EVs or shrank their fleet after they proved unprofitable amid weak consumer uptake and expensive maintenance, said Daniel Ross, director of strategic market insights at Canadian Black Book.

Car rental company Hertz walked back its decision to electrify some of its global fleet after it first looked to add EVs in 2021, liquidating a third of its global EV supply in 2024. It’s not clear how many EVs Hertz owns in its Canadian fleet.

Ross said EV rental inventory in Canada remains small and limited to cities that have the infrastructure.

It’s further complicated by fluctuations in the auto market that are finally resolving after a pandemic-era shortage created supply chain bottlenecks. Most rental companies wanted to acquire any car they could get and the majority of the supply was gas-powered.

It’s unlikely rental companies will increase their EV offerings in light of the recent demand because it’s not meaningful enough to move the needle for them, Ross said.

But interest in EVs at dealerships has gone up. As the war in Iran drags on and the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively shut — blocking a fifth of the world’s oil supply and keeping global oil prices elevated — more Canadians are once again finding EVs desirable.

The renewed interest also comes as the federal government reintroduced its EV rebates in February, helping offset some of the costs.

Sales of EVs jumped more than 50 per cent in several provinces soon after the rebate programs kicked in, a February report from DesRosiers Automotive Consultants Inc. found.

Meanwhile, Canadians claimed more than $122 million in federal subsidies for new EVs in the three months since the reintroduction, according to a May 26 report from Transport Canada.

At peer-to-peer car rental marketplace Turo, EV bookings jumped 80 per cent as of mid-May compared with a year ago, said Bassem El-Rahimy, vice-president of Turo Canada.

This is really seen “as an indicator for people trying to avoid or offset some of these incredibly high gas prices that we’re experiencing today,” El-Rahimy said. The platform has about 2,000 EVs and hybrids listed for rent.

Searches for hybrid vehicles rose sharply year-over-year on Turo — up 180 per cent between April 29 and May 29, compared with the same time last year, El-Rahimy said. He said that likely signals a move toward fuel-efficient options in general rather than a preference for EVs specifically.

El-Rahimy said EVs are still available on the rental marketplace, but supply has started to run tight ahead of the long weekends.

“They’re definitely starting to book up for the summer,” he said.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car, however, hasn’t seen a significant rise in demand for hybrids and EVs, said company spokesperson Danielle Stuart.

She said the company has nearly 160,000 hybrids and EVs in its global fleet, with a limited mix available in some Canadian markets where there’s demand and infrastructure for them. The company didn’t specify how many it has in Canada.

Calgary resident Jeff Bannard often rents EVs when travelling for work, but only if they’re the cheapest of the lot available. Lately, he hasn’t been finding any deals on them.

“On the whole, if I were to select a vehicle, an EV is going to be expensive per day,” he said. “Maybe 20 to 30 per cent more per day than a conventional small gas-fired vehicle.”

But there are savings to be found in gas money, he said.

It costs him about 56 to 62 cents a kilowatt hour to charge an EV at a supercharger station. “If you try and compare that to going to the gas station and filling up, it’s a little cheaper.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 7, 2026.

Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press