Paris to introduce city-wide electric car hire

Hoping to emulate the popularity of its bicycle rental scheme, Paris is planning to introduce the world’s largest fleet of electric cars by September of next year. As opposed to Velib, which saw Parisians and visitors able to pick up and drop off rental bikes anywhere in the city, Autolib will do the same but with electric cars.

The plan is to cut down on car ownership and traffic pollution in the city centre by allowing Parisians to pick up and drop off a car anywhere in the metropolis. Cyclists and pedestrians have benefitted for a decade of green initiatives in Paris, and since 2001 traffic has been reduced by 25 per cent.

Deputy mayor Annick Lepetit said she hopes many people will now be able to do away with their cars entirely, adding that Autolib is cheaper and less hassle as customers can pick up a car anywhere and not have to worry about parking. Lepetit also said that the scheme would be much cheaper than the $7,000-a-year it takes to run your own vehicle.

The cars will be stored in designated parking garages as well as on the street, but so far four bidders are still vying for the public-private partnership. The success of the movement will also depend on the amount of charging stations available on city streets.

Officials say 1,000 battery recharging stations will be more than enough for the 3,000 cars initially planned, but worries remain that Autolib could suffer the same level of vandalism that plagued Velib when they were first introduced. Nearly 8,000 bikes were stolen or broken when the programme began.