A scheme of shared electric cars in Paris will be introduced in London from March 2015.
The scheme in Paris, operated as Autolib' by BlueSolutions, sees a fleet of electric cars , known as Bluecars, distributed around the capital at various hubs. With each hub is a sign-in pod, parking spaces for the cars, and charging points. The idea is that a user can hire out a car and commute across the city, dropping the car off at the next closest hub to their destination.
Autolib' claims they are cutting emissions as they are reducing the number of private vehicles and taxis needed in Paris. Sure enough, the idea that you can commute across a city centre in a hired electric vehicle is very enticing, considering congestion charges and parking fees.
In Paris, the fleet totals roughly 2,500 cars, with over 900 "Rental Stations" to locate and park these nifty little cars; there are plenty available. Autolib' reckon their cars are rented 10,000 times a day! Such figures are encouraging, and Autolib' are planning to add an additional 500 cars by the end of the year.
Perhaps surprisingly, young drivers are amongst Autolib's biggest users. The communications director, Julien Varin, explains that this is due to the affordability of the Bluecars. Rather than a city-based student or young professional owning and running a car in Paris, where insurance alone for the year exceeds on average €1,000, that same young driver can hire the Bluecar at the cost of a McDonald's meal for half an hour!
An annual membership to this innovative plan is €120 for the year, €25 for the month, or €10 for the week, staggeringly low prices, bringing daily subscriptions down from €9 per half an hour to €5.50. Basically, a membership will give a discount to renting the car for the time you would like, the longer the membership, the better the discount. A further €150 fine is applicable to repair damages, again, vastly lower than insurance excesses. However, membership is suspended after two such incidents.
London are aiming for a £10 per month membership, at £5 per half hour. Again, these prices for transportation in the city centre are a welcome figure.
Our own capital wishes to start tentatively with the scheme, introducing around 100 cars to be used in the existing network of 1,400 charging points. Hopes are that the scheme will be embraced by users and will have the co-operation of councils to make kerb-space and more charging points available, until the success of Paris has been replicated and exceeded.
A brief run-down of the car goes as follows:
The feedback from Paris shows the biggest issue is other electric cars, not subscribed to the service, using the charging points, a minor issue in the ongoing fight to lower pollution.
Such facts are even better news, making the Bluecar a viable option for commuters as opposed to private cars, taxis and subways. And if it cuts even a fraction of the pollution from our city centres, it's surely a worthy scheme to invest in.
