Neil Cunningham (pictured), general manager, UK & Europe off airport at Hertz UK, said: “The Budget contained mixed news for the car rental industry.

“While Hertz welcomes the extension of the First Year Allowance (FYA) for businesses purchasing the lowest emission vehicles, financial incentives are just part of the equation to increase the number of low emission vehicles on our roads.

“Take the plug-in vehicle market for example, continued consumer education about the benefits of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is needed to break down the barriers to adoption and the government needs to work with the private sector to create opportunities for people to trial EVs.

“In the UK Hertz opens up the EV experience by offering people the chance to trial an EV for the first time through car share services like Hertz on Demand.

“With this service growing in popularity we have recently expanded our EV offer in and outside of London.

“Currently, there are 16 Source London funded charging points across Greater London, including London Heathrow and London City Airport and Hertz has recently established a vehicle car-sharing scheme in Milton Keynes which provides customers with access to the Nissan Leaf.

“We understand that a main barrier to EV adoption is ‘range anxiety’ and we would like to see the government set aside money to expand charge points across the country.  

“Hertz is focused on making smart mobility a viable reality by giving customers and businesses opportunities to trial alternative fuel vehicles as a sustainable transportation option.”