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Charles Platiau / Reuters
A Paris Autolib' electric car is parked near a charging station in Vaucresson, west of Paris Sept. 30. The electrically powered Autolib cars will be available for hire in a two-month trial starting Oct. 2 at 4-8 euros per 30 minutes to motorists paying a membership fee starting at 10 euros for a day of driving.
Reuters
Bubble-shaped vehicles will appear on Paris streets next week which billionaire entrepreneur Vincent Bollore hopes will help clear the traffic-clogged arteries of the French capital as well as providing a charge to his nascent battery business.
The electrically powered Autolib cars will be available for hire in a two-month trial starting October 2 at 4 to 8 euros per half hour to motorists prepared to pay a membership fee starting at 10 euros for a day of driving.
The 235 million euro ($321 million) project is the brainchild of Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, who hopes to duplicate the success of Velib, the bicycle-sharing scheme he launched in 2007 and which has been copied by several cities in France and abroad.
It's also a potential showcase for Bollore's eponymous industrial conglomerate, which is making the BlueCar vehicles involved in the scheme and which are based on a lithium-metal-polymer battery, a different technology from the lithium-ion batteries other car makers are using.
Bollore told journalists on Friday he expected the project to make a profit in a number of years. "We estimate that it will be profitable from the seventh year, and an industrial group like ours is used to (its investments) turning a profit from the sixth or seventh year," he said.
The scheme echoes increasingly popular car clubs such as City Car which allow members to hire a local car for as little as an hour at a time.
"We want to persuade people to shift from the concept of owning a car to that of using a car," Autolib General Manager Morald Chibout told Reuters.
The city of Paris has spent 35 million euros ($47.8 million) in building the car rental stations, while neighboring communes have contributed 50,000 for each station.
The Bollore group, which has invested 200 million euros in the project, will pay a 750 euros annual fee for each car space.
Taking a cue from the success of Velib, the project is aimed at reducing the need for the private cars that hog Parisian boulevards as well as offering locals and visitors a chance to discover electric cars.
Large-scale rivals
The service will debut next week with 66 cars and 33 stations throughout Paris, but will expand to 3000 vehicles and more than 1000 stations by the end of 2012.
The project gets underway as top automakers test the market's enthusiasm for electric cars on a large scale in Europe. Renault SA and its Japanese sister company Nissan Motor Co, which have invested 4 billion euros in electric vehicles, have begun selling a few such cars ahead of volume production and sales set to kick off in 2012.
Bollore's cars are being manufactured exclusively for the car-sharing service.
First unveiled at the 2005 Geneva motor show, the bubble-shaped four seater has been designed and manufactured exclusively for Bollore by Italian designer Pininfarina, famous for sculpting Ferraris and Maseratis.
Unlike Pininfarina's more upmarket designs, the BlueCar has been kept simple, with basic controls that are meant to be intuitive and easy to understand.
The car is powered by batteries manufactured by Bollore and can travel up to 250 km between charges which will take about four hours. Bollore says the batteries are safer than the lithium-ion batteries used by most of the car industry because they are less prone to overheating.
They are also more stable when being charged and discharged.
With estimates for the electric vehicle market of between 20 billion and 50 billion in 2020, Bollore's bet may pay off if Autolib becomes a success.
Soaring insurance and parking costs in French cities have already persuaded 25 percent of its citizens to reduce or give up using their cars, according to a study published last year by Chronos TNS Sofres.
Quick and simple
Valentine de la Celle, a 30-year-old Parisian mother of two, would seem to be the typical target for the service. She doesn't own a car, but expects to start using the station on Boulevard Haussmann for short trips, as she lives nearby.
"We're doing building work at home at the moment and to take things to the tip I'd have to hire a car, which is difficult," she said. "But the scheme needs to be quick and simple, otherwise people will not use it."
Bollore says picking up an Autolib vehicle from a station and returning it to another will only take a few minutes.
Before hiring a car, drivers will have to register at Autolib's flagship office in central Paris or at kiosks located near some stations. A driving license, ID card and a credit card will be required to sign up, along with an uncashed deposit.
Users will be able to sign up for daily, weekly or annual memberships ranging from 10 euros to 144 euros for a year, with users paying more depending on the length of time the car is used.
The tiered pricing system is designed to encourage hiring the cars only for short trips, said Annick Lepetit, Paris' deputy mayor in charge of transportation. "We are not here to compete against traditional car rental businesses," she said.
Unlike traditional rental cars, Autolib vehicles will be tracked by an operational center which will be staffed 24 hours a day to help drivers who run into difficulties.
"We hope other cities will contact us to adopt our system," said Chibout. "Three cities have already called us."
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After living in Paris for three years, unless things have dramatically changed there since 1988, which I doubt, I'm wondering why anyone would need an "hourly rental car" like this when the Metro goes almost everywhere throughout the city, and the RER goes out to La Defense.
BobbyHackett, you are joking! I can think of a number of reasons to have access to a car in Paris.
Having spent a lot of time in Paris I can think of many times I wished I had a car to haul something. You can't take everything on the Metro! How would you carry a TV across town? Walk it to the metro, down the stairs, then up the stairs.....?
It doesn't make any difference where the Metro/RER goes, why would you use it to haul something? I've wished I had a car to pick up family at the airport.... Just drive around the City on a Sunday a.m. Haul things back from a Sunday market, on & on.
Good point, but I doubt you would be able to do it in this car.
It looks to be no bigger than a Smart, and maybe a bit smaller.
A new 42" + flat screen will not fit. Trust me.
The picture is deceiving, the "Blue Car" is quite a bit bigger than a Smart, with 4 seats and some luggage space in the back. Mind you, I don't think you could get a 42" flatscreen in there, but a 36" would probably fit.
In San Francisco there's a company called Zip Car that does this. But I don't think they're all electric. Still it's a good niche. You rent a Zip Car, use it for a few hours, then drop it at any Zip Car location. Cheaper than renting a car for a whole day(s).
I know they're successful in SF and just started in Los Angeles where more solutions like this are definitely needed because of the spread out nature of the city and the limitations of the public transportation.
It's good to see a super rich billionaire putting his money into solutions. It seems he realizes it's not pie in the sky and he will indeed make money off of it. We need more people like this in America.
LOL! It looks like one on those vehicles in Logan's Run.
We couldn't do this here in Chicago....all the cars would be stolen on the first day.
They're probably set up similar to the Zipcar car rental service, and the Zipcar service has had very few thefts, thanks to electronic locking controls, electronic starting, and tracking devices.
Well, let them guys keep on trying to catch up to the good old USA. right here in Austin, hit up Car2Go. They are an easy way to get around.
I can clearly see Steve Martin and Bill Murray quizzing each other while puzzeledly gazing, "What the hell is that? What is that dang deal? Who put that there? What in.......the hell is that?"
The biggest question is whether the cars will be returned to the rental posts or be tossed into the river like shopping carts and stolen bicycles.
Hope it works, but in the USA, I worry that the insurance industry will make renting them by the hour impossibly expensive, then city govts and HOAs will ban them, restrict them and regulate the daylights out of the concept so that no one will want to use them.
Did I miss the Segway revolution...??? Weren't we all supposed to be commuting to work on Segways by now...???
That limey who owned Segway commuted in one right over a cliff.
speaking of Segway's, I just can't resist pasting an article I remember reading sometime ago
Millionaire Segway tycoon dies in cliff plunge on one of his own scooters
Read more: #ixzz1ZbHpIQOK
The multi-millionaire owner of the company that makes Segway motorised scooters has died in a freak accident while riding one of his vehicles.
Jimi Heselden, 62, was found dead in a river after plunging 80 feet over a limestone cliff near his home.
He was riding a rugged country version of the two-wheeled Segway when tragedy struck.
There is some real irony right there ........
Aren't we just trading one problem for another? Electric cars don't use gas and don't pollute like gas driven cars (although I hear that some power companies do use some form of petroleum products in generating electricity); but, we don't stop to wonder what we are going to do with all those batteries (and the toxic chemicals in them) when they eventually wear out. So We have a ground pollution problem coming in the future with electric cars. Great, those toxic chemicals percolate down into the water table, yum!
I wonder when the vehicle designers are going to stop trying to kill us all in one way or another and start working on some designs that might prove to really be a long term solution? I hear the ideas are out there, it is just a matter of getting the corporations (since they got bailed out and haven't folded yet, I guess they are still around making money for someone, no that it shows any signs of trickling down to us) to put out the money to develop these ideas (or get the *#@$ out of the way and let some new businesses deal with what they won't deal with (create new engines, motors, whatever, and the vehicle to go around them that don't create as many problems as they solve.)
There was a study done (sorry I do not remember the link) that showed that when you look at the total life cycle of the car, electric and hybrid cars are far less environmentally friendly than good old fashion gasoline powered ones. They have even been found to be overall less energy efficient. When you factor in the additional energy used in the mining of the materials and the manufacturing of the batteries and power systems, in addition to the energy used to generate the electricity to charge the cars, electric cars are less energy efficient than gasoline powered ones. This is particularly true because of the fact that the batteries in an electric car have a life expectancy that is far less, 5 to 8 years depending on use, than a gasoline engine. The study took into account all aspects, including the efficiency of the power grid in getting electricity from the power plant to the outlet you plug the car into. Electric cars may make people feel good about themselves because they do not see the exhaust coming out the tailpipe, but with current technology these people are really just deceiving themselves. The numbers may improve in favor of the electric cars as we start generating more electricity from renewable energy sources, but for now they just do not add up. Also, when you take into account the toxic materials associated with the batteries and the problems this creates in both manufacturing and disposing of them, electric cars are actually extremely environmentally unfriendly.
JS, before you believe the results of a study, make sure you know who's funding it. The electric car industry could publish a "study" showing them to be more efficient, the petroleum industry could publish a study showing petrol power more efficient. Would you believe either one?
@Joe - well said. Often people reference a study without understanding the use cases and parametrics applied to the "research" (quotes because many have a predetermined outcome --- and only the ones that support that premise see the light of day). The business model for the systems shown in this article appears sound and will increasingly make sense for congested urban areas with expensive ownership of a personal automobile.
Yeah you also forget that most of French energy comes from nuclear sites. You can say what you want, it is the most environmental friendly and resource efficient energy.
Electric cars will never be as energy efficient as gas cars, because lithium cells aren't as little as ethanol molecules, but gas cars convert half the energy into heat, so really both have problems.
It's way more easy to control a big facility to recycle used batteries than each gas car polluting. There shouldn't be any environmental hazards about recycling batteries, unless your car is burnt and dumped in water.
ALL cars already have batteries, batteries once worn out can be turned in, refurbished and resold. There's no perfect answer to this problem but electric cars are a hell of a lot better than gas powered. I think you're being a bit unrealistic. The people that are pushing electric cars are the people trying to improve the world, and the worlds been fighting them tooth and nail. And then there's the sharing aspect of this. If people share vehicles by using this business It allows for less vehicles to fulfill peoples needs as is currently used. This is a HUGE bonus environmentally.
I think its a good idea. I've been considering buying a second car (I.E. Electric) just for tooling around town and doing short errands. It would be cheaper than paying for gas all the time. The only problem is I can't justify the expense right now. My car gets good gas millage, I just hate the direction gas prices are going. Even when oil prices go down gas prices stay the same here. When oil goes up gas prices go up quick though.
ZipCar is available beyond San Francisco. They are in Boston, New York (I believe) and also Montreal (I think... can't honestly remember).
With regards to the bike sharing program in Paris - I know that Montreal does the same thing, and from what I saw when I was there (and what I've read), it's wildly popular. Not certain something like the bike rental would catch on in any major US city - we're far too lazy as a whole to embrace the idea.
We have one on the front porch. We didn't get the steam cycle or anything, but the front load makes is much easier to access the clothes. It uses less water, and much less soap than traditional top loaders that continually fill and drain. Since when did they put the great big red dials on the fronts of these things? Almost looks like a c....... na couldn't be.
Good one :c)
One surefire way to ease the reliability factor about EV's is for more comercial use in society. I bought an 02 Insight Hybrid for commuting and found it to be an excellant investment. Over 53 MPG w/auto trans. somewhat disappointed w/ 2010 Insight economy although it is better refined in the new revamped model. I look forward to my solar carport for my own EV! Inventors and innovators have proventhe EV can be faster and more economical than the tired polluting ICE concept. Battery recycling is and always been a part of the entire waste cycle for everything automotive. I got $200 per vehicle for my old project vehicles I had hanging around. Recycled metal, plastic and glass all help make todays vehicles more environmentally friendly when people use the recycling process. The poor petroleum industry doesn't want you to go electric yet until they corner the Solar panel market. The power companies already passed legislation empowering them to rent you their panels when you try to reuce your carbon footprint from their grid.
If its entrepreneurial I'm all for it.
Catch up with America! America is behind the times and still using gasoline powered vehicles when the rest of the world is waking up to the fact that gasoline powered vehicles have gone the way of the dinosaur.
The electric car will lower the greenhouse emissions that will slow global warming not withstanding keeping the harmful pollutants from exhaust from being ingested by your so oh precious newborn child who sits twitching in her car seat not because of newborn growth but because she is ingesting harmfull contaiminents from the air that will cause her to have cancer later on in life.
We should pave 8 foot wide bicycle paths, and get people to used that.
My wife lost 40 pounds doing this. I'd like to do the same thing. In the northern virginia area, you can move through several cities on our dedicated bike lanes. These are completely removed from car lanes, and safe.
With no stop lights, a biker can roll through cities faster than the cars can move.
We had an advantage in DC, as there were old rail road lines, that led straight into the city. They paved over these and made them into bike trails.
You lose weight, you can move faster, and get some fresh air. Forget about heavy batteries and gasoline. Forget about building infrastructure. A decent bike is cheap.
I agree, unfortunately most cities have been designed strictly for automobiles over the decades. It's not just the roads, as an example just look at how your typical fast-food joint is laid out with the drive-thru lane; it's a design that's actually hazardous to pedestrians and cyclists alike even if they aren't going into the place. And the new open plaza designs that began replacing malls back in the 1990s are death traps for anyone not inside a car.
What is that ridiculously huge panel hanging off the back, with the arrows? Seems like it would ruin the aerodynamics besides being a traffic hazard!