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    Paris to Launch the World’s First Municipal Electric Vehicle Hire Scheme

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    Jun 9th, 2011
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    Paris to Launch the World’s First Municipal Electric Vehicle Hire Scheme

    By Sam Jones at Green Futures

    Parisians will soon be zipping round Charles de Gaulle Etoile in little blue bubble-like cars, as the world’s first municipal electric vehicle (EV) hire scheme gets underway. Mayor Bernard Delanoë has pioneered the €110 million Autolib initiative to complement the Vélib bicycles, introduced in 2007. The fleet of 3,000 lithium battery-powered cars is designed by Italian partner Pininfarina, best known for their work on desirable brands like Alfa Romeo and Ferrari. Manufactured by French company Bolloré, they will be available later this year from 1,000 self-service hire points throughout the city.

    The four-seater ‘Bluecars’ will be able to travel about 250km on one charge, with a full recharge taking around four hours. They’re designed for efficiency rather than pace: a top speed of 130km/h won’t thrill Jeremy Clarkson. But for people simply wanting a straightforward car to hop across town in, they could be ideal. They come equipped with GPS and an emergency call button in case of an accident.

    Subscription to the scheme costs just €12 a month, with additional charges of €5 for the first half an hour of use, €4 for the next, and €6 for each subsequent 30-minute slot. The charging rates are clearly designed to favour single, short-ish trips, rather than compete with mainstream car hire schemes. Bluecar needs to attract just 160,000 subscribers to cover its costs, an achievable feat in a city where 58% of the population do not own a car, and 16% of those who do use it less than once a month.

    Low-carbon vehicle designer and entrepreneur Hugo Spowers waxed lyrical about the scheme. “It kills a lot of birds: embodied carbon, congestion from parked cars, the cost [of ownership] to consumers…” Another fan is London Mayor Boris Johnson, who is keen to copy his Parisian counterpart on this scheme, as he did with the bikes. Discussions have opened at the London Assembly, but so far no funds have been allocated.

    Image courtesy of david_meggison on flickr

    This article originally appeared in Green Futures, the magazine of independent sustainability experts Forum for the Future.


    • http://twitter.com/panoptic J. Veloz

      I think it’s an awesome idea, but given the theft and vandalism problems of the Velib system, I’m not so sure about the idea of offering cars.  

      Taken from Wikipedia:
      At least 3,000 bicycles were stolen in the first year of operation, a number far greater than had been initially anticipated. As of August 2009, of 20,600 bikes introduced into service, about 16,000 – some 80% of the total – have been replaced due to vandalism or theft; of the latter, fully 8,000 were stolen.

      I’m not saying that the Autolib won’t work, but I think it will be very costly to keep it running if theft and vandalism happen. If the Autolib is not solvent, it will make other cities wary of implementing a similar project themselves.

      • http://www.thisbigcity.net Joe Peach

        It’s true that Paris saw a lot of thefts with their bicycles. Could that be novelty though? I’d be interested in seeing how figures have been for the more recently launched cycle hire schemes. London and Montreal have very steep fines for damaged or non-returned bicycles. Maybe it’s a negative behaviour that can be priced out somewhat.

      • http://www.thisbigcity.net Joe Peach

        It’s true that Paris saw a lot of thefts with their bicycles. Could that be novelty though? I’d be interested in seeing how figures have been for the more recently launched cycle hire schemes. London and Montreal have very steep fines for damaged or non-returned bicycles. Maybe it’s a negative behaviour that can be priced out somewhat.

      • http://www.thisbigcity.net Joe Peach

        It’s true that Paris saw a lot of thefts with their bicycles. Could that be novelty though? I’d be interested in seeing how figures have been for the more recently launched cycle hire schemes. London and Montreal have very steep fines for damaged or non-returned bicycles. Maybe it’s a negative behaviour that can be priced out somewhat.

    • http://twitter.com/panoptic J. Veloz

      I think it’s an awesome idea, but given the theft and vandalism problems of the Velib system, I’m not so sure about the idea of offering cars.  

      Taken from Wikipedia:
      At least 3,000 bicycles were stolen in the first year of operation, a number far greater than had been initially anticipated. As of August 2009, of 20,600 bikes introduced into service, about 16,000 – some 80% of the total – have been replaced due to vandalism or theft; of the latter, fully 8,000 were stolen.

      I’m not saying that the Autolib won’t work, but I think it will be very costly to keep it running if theft and vandalism happen. If the Autolib is not solvent, it will make other cities wary of implementing a similar project themselves.

    • http://www.municipalvehiclehire.com municipal vehicle hire

      NLE plans to persuade government and municipal authorities to convert their fleet of vehicles to electric, and will install recharge stations at these facilities to encourage the shift to sustainable energy use. 

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