Paris offers electric cars for hire

Following the success of its bicycle hire scheme, Paris is to offer electric cars that drivers can pick up and drop off anywhere in the city.

From the end of 2009, 4,000 electric cars will be placed around Paris. It is the first electric car project of its kind in a capital city

What is Vélib?

Paris’s on-street bicycle hire scheme is called Vélib and in less than a year it has gone some way to transforming transport habits in the city. The fleet of electric cars is called Autolib and is the next step in the city’s quest to provide green travel options for all.

Paris will have 700 Autolib hire points around the city, 200 of which will be underground. Drivers will be free to pick up and drop off the vehicles at any of the hire points. A computer onboard each car will allow drivers to announce their destination, thus ensuring a parking space is available at the end of their journey.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA)said: “Paris is leading the world in exciting green initiatives, and where they go we appear to follow. With our own London mayor behind the idea of a mass bicycle hire scheme, how long before we see an electric car scheme here too?”

Are electric cars reliable?

The ETA provides breakdown cover for most of the electric vehicles in Britain. Its spokesperson said: “With far fewer moving parts than a petrol or diesel-powered vehicle, electric cars should not suffer unduly from problems of reliability.” The ETA is a not-for-profit organisation providing motorists and cyclists with green breakdown cover and green insurance products.