II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3865 

To require rental car companies to allow customers to terminate a rental 

car agreement if they would otherwise be forced to rent an electric 

motor vehicle against their wishes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 5, 2024 

Mr. COTTON (for himself and Mr. CRAMER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 

Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To require rental car companies to allow customers to terminate a rental car agreement if they would otherwise 

be forced to rent an electric motor vehicle against their 

wishes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Requiring EV Notifica5 tion and Transparency Act of 2024’’ or the ‘‘RENT Act 

6 of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REQUIREMENTS FOR RENTAL CAR COMPANIES 

2 PERTAINING TO ELECTRIC MOTOR VEHI3 CLES. 

4 (a) CUSTOMER CHOICE.—A rental car company shall 

5 only provide a customer with an electric motor vehicle pur6 suant to a rental agreement between the rental car com7 pany and the customer if the customer opts in to renting 

8 an electric motor vehicle. 

9 (b) REQUIREMENTS TO PROVIDE NOTICE AND OP10 PORTUNITY TO TERMINATE RENTAL AGREEMENT.— 

11 (1) NOTICE.—A rental car company shall notify 

12 a customer not later than 12 hours before the cus13 tomer is scheduled to pick up a motor vehicle pursu14 ant to a rental agreement between the customer and 

15 the rental car company that the rental car company 

16 believes that it is more likely than not that the only 

17 motor vehicles available to rent are electric motor ve18 hicles if— 

19 (A) the customer enters into such rental 

20 agreement at a time earlier than 24 hours be21 fore the customer is scheduled to pick up a 

22 motor vehicle; and 

23 (B) the customer did not opt in to renting 

24 an electric motor vehicle. 

25 (2) OPPORTUNITY TO TERMINATE RENTAL

26 AGREEMENT; WAIVER OF FEES OR PENALTIES.—A 


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1 rental car company shall allow a customer to termi2 nate a rental agreement and may not subject the 

3 customer to any fees or penalties associated with 

4 terminating a rental agreement if the customer did 

5 not opt in to renting an electric motor vehicle and— 

6 (A) the customer receives a notice de7 scribed in paragraph (1); or 

8 (B) there are only electric motor vehicles 

9 available when the customer arrives to pick up 

10 a motor vehicle. 

11 (c) ENFORCEMENT BY THE COMMISSION.— 

12 (1) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACT OR PRAC13 TICES.—A violation of this Act or a regulation pro14 mulgated under this Act shall be treated as an un15 fair or deceptive act or practice in violation of a rule 

16 promulgated under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Fed17 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 

18 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

19 (2) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

21 enforce this Act in the same manner, by the 

22 same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 

23 powers, and duties as though all applicable 

24 terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 


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1 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were in2 corporated into and made a part of this Act. 

3 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any 

4 rental car company that violates this Act or a 

5 regulation promulgated under this Act shall be 

6 subject to the penalties and entitled to the 

7 privileges and immunities provided in the Fed8 eral Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et 

9 seq.). 

10 (C) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in 

11 this Act shall be construed to limit or expand 

12 the authority of the Commission under any 

13 other provision of law. 

14 (D) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 

15 days after the enactment of this Act, the Com16 mission shall promulgate in accordance with 

17 section 553 of title 5, United States Code, such 

18 rules as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 

19 (3) EFFECT ON STATE LAW.—Nothing in this 

20 Act shall preclude the application of the law of any 

21 State that requires rental car companies to disclose 

22 more information to customers regarding renting an 

23 electric motor vehicle. 

24 (d) ENFORCEMENT BY INDIVIDUALS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any individual who has been 

2 harmed by a violation of this Act by a rental car 

3 company may bring a civil action against such com4 pany in a Federal court of competent jurisdiction. 

5 (2) RELIEF.—In a civil action brought under 

6 paragraph (1) in which the plaintiff prevails, the 

7 court may award the plaintiff— 

8 (A) an amount equal to the sum of any 

9 damages sustained for each violation; 

10 (B) reasonable attorney fees and litigation 

11 costs. 

12 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

13 (1) AIRPORT.—The term ‘‘airport’’ has the 

14 meaning given that term in section 40102 of title 

15 49, United States Code. 

16 (2) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 

17 means the Federal Trade Commission. 

18 (3) ELECTRIC MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term 

19 ‘‘electric motor vehicle’’ means a motor vehicle de20 signed to operate exclusively on electricity stored in 

21 a rechargeable battery, multiple batteries, or a bat22 tery pack. 

23 (4) MOTOR VEHICLE.—The term ‘‘motor vehi24 cle’’ means any vehicle which is manufactured pri25 marily for use on public streets, roads, and highways 


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1 (not including a vehicle operated exclusively on a rail 

2 or rails) and which has at least 4 wheels. 

3 (5) RENTAL CAR COMPANY.—The term ‘‘rental 

4 car company’’— 

5 (A) means any person engaged in the busi6 ness of renting motor vehicles of any type 

7 that— 

8 (i) operates in 2 or more States; 

9 (ii) operates on or within 5 miles of 

10 an airport; and 

11 (iii) used for rental purposes a motor 

12 vehicle fleet of 1,000 or more motor vehi13 cles, on average, during the most recent 

14 calendar year; and 

15 (B) includes any entity that is a subsidiary 

16 of a person described in subparagraph (A). 

Æ 


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