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Sure, the benefits of hybrids cars like the Toyota Prius include tax credits, lower fuel bills, and the generally warm and fuzzy feeling you get from saving energy and helping the environment.

Kimpton Hotels, the boutique chain, is offering discounts and/or free parking to guests pulling up in a hybrid. Rental cars are included.

At the Muse Hotel in New York, they’ll even throw in a copy of Honku : The Zen Antidote to Road Rage. (But why would you be driving in New York, though?)

If you ARE in New York, and you need to get to the airport, you might consider Ozocar, the car service that operates a fleet of hybrid cars by Toyota or Lexus. Each car is equipped with an Apple iBook and mobile wireless internet. It’s slower, but a lot cheaper than the helicopter service to JFK.

Renting a hybrid is tougher to do, and it’s rarely cheap. Some smaller or regional agencies advertise hybrids (Fox Rent A Car and EV Rental Cars, both largely operating in California, come to mind), and the rates are generally a bit higher than comparably sized regular vehicles. As a tradeoff, in California, hybrid cars are always allowed to drive in the multiple-passenger express lanes, even with only one driver. The time saved in traffic may be worth the premium.

But while smaller firms are trying to appeal to the increasingly energy-aware public, the major rental firms are still wedded to their standard issue Detroit gas guzzlers. And as guest blogger Dr. Vino pointed out two weeks ago, the demand for those gas guzzlers is going down. Hopefully the supply of hybrids will increase to meet the demand.

tags: travel | rental cars | hotels | Kimpton | Ozocar | hybrid cars