Paris became the first city in the world that is one step closer to launch an electric car sharing program. A Bluecar is revealed in Paris, on the first day of a test session of the Autolib’ electric car pick-up service.
City officials claim that the EV sharing program could be the largest of its kind. In the next two month, Paris will be equipped with 60 vehicles scattered over 10 stations.
Finally, the program is expected to be scaled up to 250 vehicles at the beginning of December. Other 46 municipalities around the French capital will have 2,000 electric four-seaters by the end of June 2012.
The Autolib’ sharing program doesn’t stop here because the city officials want to equip the city with about 3,000 to 5,000 eco-friendly Bluecars located at more than 1,000 locations across Paris.
This service will complement public transport and taxis. “Our aim is to widen the range of available transport,” deputy Paris mayor Annick Lepetit said at the launch.
Car-sharing systems already exist in the Netherlands and New York but the Autolib’ project in Paris is unique due to the fact that all cars are electric.
The small bubble-shaped Bluecars, designed by legendary Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina, have an autonomy of 250 kilometres (155 miles) on a single charge and are equipped with Lithium Metal Polymer batteries developed by the Bollore Group.
[via Physorg]
