The summer car rental market remains on a roll, according to Liquid Fleet, combined with the biggest sign yet that the industry and its customers are ready to embrace EVs.

Customers are reporting stronger than expected summer demand for hire vehicles from both the business and retail sectors. Businesses in particular are looking for short-term leasing this year ahead of purchasing or contract hiring vehicles for their staff over extended periods while economic confidence remains fragile.

This trend has encouraged more customers who Liquid Fleet supply cars to, to commit to contracts between nine and 15 months which cover multiple rental peaks between now and next autumn, rather than onboarding cars for 3–6-month contracts.

“The summer rental market remains buoyant, and we are still supplying vehicles into the sector at a time when our fleet would normally be slowing down slightly as the summer season ends,” explained Martin Potter, Liquid Fleet’s commercial director.

“Economic confidence is definitely playing a part in businesses using short-term leasing more than committing to long term contracts. Short term leasing gives them flexibility, and our rental customers have responded by committing to growing their fleets for longer periods to cover three or five rental seasons,” he added.

In June and July, Liquid Fleet also experienced a marked increase in the number of customers looking to trial EVs for the very first time. The rental industry has been and will be the last to embrace electric cars for multiple reasons, but the advent of longer-range EVs being added to the Liquid Fleet has begun to convince both business and rental sectors that they can use a zero-emission car without compromising their daily transport needs.

“The life cycle of our fleet means we are running several hundred of the latest model EVs with 300-350-mile ranges which seems to be the tipping point for customers. The Kia EV3 and BYD product have been particular favourites with drivers, and with average ranges continuing to rise this may be the leg-up the rental industry needs to confidently onboard more EVs,” said Potter.