WASHINGTON -
More than half the vehicles at the branch on Vermont Avenue NW will be FlexFuel-capable, and will be fueled at the newly opened E85 fueling station on nearby Wisconsin Ave. NW.
The fueling station opened as part of an effort by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, General Motors Corp., VeraSun Energy and Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
"While the increasing availability of alternative fuel in D.C. is notable in itself, the broader story is about availability of alternative fuels and technologies nationwide and what consumer-focused companies are doing to address their environmental footprint and help their customers do the same," said Enterprise in a released statement. "As the owner of the world's largest vehicle fleet, approaching 1-million vehicles) and Detroit's biggest customer, Enterprise has a huge stake in this effort."
The company said it has more than 41,000 E85-compatible FlexFuel vehicles 3,000 hybrids available nationally.
The other elements of Enterprise's environmental platform include:
* Enterprise offers more than 3,000 gas/electric hybrid vehicles nationwide.
* A third of Enterprise's U.S. fleet qualifies for the EPA's SmartWay certification mark, which recognizes vehicles that emit relatively low levels of both regulated pollutants and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide.
* Forty-seven percent (or 334,000) of its rental fleet has a highway fuel efficiency rating of at least 28 mpg. In addition, more than 199,000 vehicles-28% of Enterprise's worldwide rental fleet-average at least 32 miles per gallon.
