Following the launch of an electric car-sharing scheme in Paris in September TheGoodLifeFrance team emailed London Mayor Boris Johnson for his views and to find out if a similar scheme would be rolled out in London – his reply says that although he is committed to electric cars, currently London has no plans to follow Paris with its ground-breaking plan.
The pilot project in Paris permits users to hire the electric car for use in the City and the organisers intend that the scheme will be a major boost for electric vehicles. The cars are manufactured by Italian designer Pininfarina, the company which also designs Ferraris and Maseratis. Needless to say, the little ecar has nothing like the sort of power of a Ferrari with a range of 250km
It is planned that the scheme is rolled out further and the Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë has said that he intends that 3000 of the electric Bluecars will be available for rental in Paris by the end of 2012. If successful the organisers hope it will change attitudes to owning a car and may represent a reduction in private vehicles estimated to be around 22,500, the equivalent of 164,500,000 km driven per year by polluting vehicles. The outcome they say will not only be less pollution but also fewer traffic jams and less stress, giving everyone more time for themselves.
The cost of hiring an ecar is €5 for the first 30 minutes and tariffs after that are €4 for half an hour. They can be picked up from one station and then dropped off at another one for recharging.
Not everyone is a fan of the scheme, the taxi drivers of Paris true to form say that the ecars will lure people away from public transport and lead to more traffic jams not less and they have tried court
If you want to register to hire one of the cars in Paris, a website is available in English, at www.autolib.eu
