JUN 23

From buildings to airports, Pairs is looking towards greening up. And now, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë announced last week that by the end of 2009, Parisians can expect to see about 4,000 electric cars throughout the city that will be available for rent through a sharing service called Autolib.

Similar to the city’s electric bike sharing service Vélib’, these EVs will be available for pick-up and delivery at 700 spots around the city. Users can hop online to specify where they’ll return the car, and they’ll be guaranteed a parking spot in that location. The subscription service would cost about $390 a month, with a 60 mile-per-day limit – pricy but considering the cost of owning, maintaining, parking, and filling up a car with fuel in a busy city, the price and mileage both seem reasonable.

On the to-do list for the plan is picking an EV model. Two models seem to be the most likely choices – BlueCar and Cleanova, both French. Whichever model they pick, it is likely that they’ll work with the maker and an infrastructure specialist to install the necessary charging stations to keep the EVs juiced up. This is important considering that the service will be available not only in the city, but also the surrounding suburbs where full charges are a little more necessary due to the longer distances between charging stations. Also, having the EV service in the suburbs helps boost green travel, since it will assist in expanding the area in which the bike rental services can operate.

This is a program I’d love to see in more big cities here in the US. It's one thing to have a car sharing program, but an electric car sharing plan is something we need more of here at home.

Via Earth2Tech, Autobloggreen, Gather

Comments (7)

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Much better than the Zipcar
written by The Food Monster, June 23, 2008

http://thefoodmonsterblog.blogspot.com
Whenever I was driving, and saw a parking spot for a Zipcar only, I would get frustrated. I think, I would be less frustrated if it were an Electric Car spot. Glad to see France is doing something Green.

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written by Tracy, June 24, 2008

I was in Paris last year when they launched the bicycles - they were brand new, and everyone was using them. They were popular right away. In a city like Paris, this will probably be wildly successful, and hopefully the rest of the world will catch on soon.

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So...
written by Stu, June 24, 2008

How 'Green' is the method of charging these cars then?

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written by dannyra, June 24, 2008

Stu,
At one time France was the world leader in nuclear power. I'm not sure if this is still the case but I believe so.

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written by Bob Wallace, June 24, 2008

Being France it's "greenish".

Nuclear.

Low CO2 emission (if you overlook what is released during construction).

And there's that little thing about shipping their waste to Russia. Where most of it "disappears".

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a small corretion
written by Franck from Paris, June 28, 2008

Velib bicycles are not electric !
For information, french electricity is composed by 80 % of nuclear energy. This energy comes today (in part)from old CCCP nuclear weapon.

excuse my bad english. a french reader.

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First The Shift, Then the Green
written by Uncle B, October 11, 2008

This Great Depression will slam Americans into realties they have been subliminally coaxed away from by the advertising industry and dishonest governments for years. We will come to realize that while our country was being raped and we were being super-exploited, we were led to believe we had entitlement to: a higher standard of living than others, a free flow of oil, gluttony to disgraceful measures, inhuman and disrespectful sexual behaviors, unrestrained consumerism, magnificence in military prowess, success without education, instant gratifications, destruction of environment and ecosystems, unprecedented power consumption, Neanderthal civil behavior, contempt for the poor and sick, and a judgmental attitude of dissatisfaction. After a short period of ass-breaking poverty and the rebirth of a sense of renewal and rebuilding, We will be able to accept riding a bus or train and using little battery and plastic cars to get to our doors. It is a big step down from cruising super highways at 90 mph in a 620 hp, 8 mpg Corvette, but the very company that built them is going broke as we speak!

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