Now, this is what we could call ‘going green’ in the literal sense of the expression.
The city of Paris in France is planning to launch an electric car-sharing scheme, appropriately named Autolib, to help reduce traffic in the French capital.
According to the UK’s Guardian, the idea is to have 5,000 electric Bluecars circulating in Paris, which should make quite a contribution to removing private cars from the city’s streets.
The city started a two-month trial of the scheme, devised by Mayor Bertrand Delanoë. Officials like to think this is the future of urban motoring.
“Private cars are expensive and people are using them less and less in cities,” Annick Lepetit, head of transport at Paris city hall, told The Guardian. “We’re moving into another culture, the culture of car sharing. It’s the same principle as Velib [the bike sharing scheme]: you use the car, leave it and that’s it. Simple.”
What’s the electric Bluecar like?
• It goes forwards and backwards,
• It has four seats, a tiny boot and an automatic gearbox.
• Charge it for eight hours and it can go from 0-62 miles in 6.7 seconds. Top speed is 81mph. Each charge lasts around 155 miles.
• GPS-enabled
• Emergency button to call for assistance.
Drivers will need to register with Autolib before driving a Bluecar, which can be done at Autolib’s office in central Paris or near pickup stations. Membership costs ranges from €10 (US$ 13.5) to €144 (US$194) for a year, depending how long the driver intends to use it.
What do you think? Is this the way urban motoring should be going? What do you think of electric cars?
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