To drive them, you'll need a one-year membership, which can be bought from 300 métro stations and 400 pastry shops for €29 ($41), plus a $215 credit card deposit. A one-day card is €1 ($1.40), or you can buy a weekly card for some $7. After buying a card, the first half-hour is free, then it's €1 for the next half-hour, €2 for the next 30-minutes and €4 for each half-hour after that.
The bikes have been a huge success - in the first 3 weeks, they were borrowed 1.2 million times - 6 times a day for each bike. In less than a year, this army of cheap, on-street hire-bicycles called Vélib' has transformed transport habits and bike awareness in Paris. By the end of this year, the plan is to have 20,600 bikes, and 1400 parking spots. There's a great blog on Vélib' at velibobsession.blogspot.com which - sadly - reports that many of the electric bikes have recently been vandalized. Anyway, a fleet of electric hire-cars called Autolib' looks set to take the revolution one step further. Autolib' is expected to go out to tender in the coming weeks, calling for 4,000 electric cars. The main contenders appear to be two models with French origins, BlueCar and Cleanova. The BlueCar project was begun by French battery manufacturer Bolloré and the first vehicles are due to go on sale in mid-2009, built and styled by Italian firm Pininfarina. The Cleanova is developed by France's Dassault Group and uses the body of the small Renault Kangoo van. Other cars mentioned are based on the Renault Twingo and the Citroën Berlingo.
There will be 700 Autolib' pick-up points across the Paris area, 200 of which will be underground. Drivers will be able to pick up an electric car and drive anywhere in the city or outskirts and drop it off at special drop off points. There will be a computerised system which allows you as soon as you collect the car to announce where you'll drop it off, so there will be a parking space available.
Drivers are expected to pay a monthly a subscription fee of up to €250 ($391), enabling them to drive up to 60 miles a day. If that seems a steep price, keep in mind gas prices in France are $8.75 a gallon, i.e. more than twice the US average of $4.11 a gallon. The fee also appears competitive with Zip Car's rates for New York City. Anyway, for those fluent in French, have a look at the website under 'les tarifs':
http://www.autolib.fr
References:
Vélib'
http://www.velib.paris.fr
Vélib' charging station
http://www.flickr.com/photos/austinevan/887339707
The Paris Freedom Bike
http://www.bcsea.org/publications/thejoule/011/default.asp
Autolib'
http://www.autolib.fr
Electric Car Sharing Service Announced in Paris
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/06/electric-car-sharing-scheme-paris.php
Paris to extend electric hire car scheme
http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2219706/paris-extend-electric-hire-car
First there were bikes....now there's electric cars...
http://knowing-nantes.blogspot.com/2008/06/first-there-were-bikesnow-theres.html
Paris plans help-yourself green car hire
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/20/france.travelandtransport
Paris to Launch Electric Car-sharing Service
http://earth2tech.com/2008/06/20/paris-to-launch-electric-car-sharing-service
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Comments: 17
To be fair, you do not see a great deal of this stuff in the news here. How are we going to understand what is really going on when Bush and mcCain keep giving Drill Deeper speeches, and the Ford and Chevy advertisements brag about the vehicles on the lot today that get 25 mpg.
I am driving a car made in 1991 that gets better mileage than that.
Belgium $9.02 - Germany $8.88 - Italy $8.93 - Netherlands $9.85 - UK $8.76 Also note the high taxes on new cars and high car registration fees, cost of drivers license, parking fees, road taxes, congestion fees, etc. This means that despite high cost, people are not likely to change until better alternatives are more readily available. In other words, feebates are the best way to facilitate change.
Note also that Renault has teamed up with Nissan to build electric cars for Project Better Place which is making progress in Israel and Denmark. Nissan, Japan's third-biggest automaker, is owned 44% by Renault, and is aiming to strengthen its line-up through a mini-vehicle (Pajero-like) to be built by Mitsubishi under the Nissan brand. The companies are exploring opportunities for further cooperation in light commercial vehicles. In a joint-venture, Nissan and NEC are investing $115 million over three years to manufacture lithium-ion batteries.
France has a system called Eco-pastille, which sets a 'break-even' point at around 130g/km of CO2. Buy a car that emits this level of CO2 and you pay 0 extra carte-gris charge compared to last year. But buy a car that emits more, and you now pay up to €2,600 more on a Band G (250g/km) car. However, if you buy a car that emits less than 130 g/km of CO2, the French Government actually starts to pay you back. So buy a 'voiture electrique' (electric car) and they give you a €5,000 rebate.
In the Netherlands the biggest polluters are charged up to €1,600 ($2,494).
In the UK, road tax for owners of cars emitting more than 255g of CO2/km will be £425 ($865) per year in 2009 and up to £950 ($1,934) per year in 2010 onwards. Currently, vehicles that emit more than 225g/km pay the maximum tax of £300 ($610) a year. On the other hand, cars that emit less than 130g of CO2/km would be exempt from the annual road tax.
http://www.motorauthority.com/news/news/uk-looking-to-triple-taxes-on-high-polluting-cars/
Canada has taxes on polluting vehicles and rebates on cleaner cars, for details see:
http://www.tc.gc.ca/programs/environment/ecotransport/ecoauto.htm#2007vehicleeligibility
End January 2008, Bill AB 493 was introduced in the California Assembly, called the California Clean Car Discount Act, which, if passed, would have imposed charges and granted rebates based on a vehicle's emission of carbon dioxide and other gases.
A recent poll commissioned by Google.org shows voters strongly support the U.S. government taking an active role in promoting the development of plug-in technology.
There are several ways in which government can facilitate the necessary shift to clean cars. As you know, I believe that a framework of feebates works best.
France has a system called Eco-pastille, which sets a 'break-even' point at around 130g/km of CO2. Buy a car that emits this level of CO2 and you pay 0 extra carte-gris charge compared to last year. But buy a car that emits more, and you now pay up to €2,600 more on a Band G (250g/km) car. However, if you buy a car that emits less than 130 g/km of CO2, the French Government actually starts to pay you back. So buy a 'voiture electrique' (electric car) and they give you a €5,000 rebate.
In the Netherlands the biggest polluters are charged up to €1,600 ($2,494).
In the UK, road tax for owners of cars emitting more than 255g of CO2/km will be £425 ($865) per year in 2009 and up to £950 ($1,934) per year in 2010 onwards. Currently, vehicles that emit more than 225g/km pay the maximum tax of £300 ($610) a year. On the other hand, cars that emit less than 130g of CO2/km would be exempt from the annual road tax. Source: UK looking to triple taxes on high polluting cars/
Canada has taxes on polluting vehicles and rebates on cleaner cars, for details see:
tc.gc.ca ecotransport 2007 vehicleeligibility
End January 2008, Bill AB 493 was introduced in the California Assembly, called the California Clean Car Discount Act, which, if passed, would have imposed charges and granted rebates based on a vehicle's emission of carbon dioxide and other gases.
A recent poll commissioned by Google.org shows voters strongly support the U.S. government taking an active role in promoting the development of plug-in technology.
I think he is a bit late, where was he in 2003, and it would be better for the US gov to fund more battery research than to hoard up all the money to reward the winner- the winner will be rewarded in the marketplace by a great deal more than 300 mill. But at least his solution is more imaginative than anything Bush every had.
In regard to tax credits, is McCain perhaps promising tax credits to car manufacturers? The Detroit Big Three are effectively broke, so they don't pay taxes to start with, they keep demanding subsidies and protection. Alternatively, if McCain promises tax credits to individuals, then that would benefit those most who pay a lot of tax, but it won't help those who pay little or no tax. The same goes for companies, if the tax credits will be extended to them.
Rebates would be more effective, because they would also encourage individuals and businesses who have low incomes or profits to buy zero-emission vehicles. As you know, I prefer rebates on zero-emission vehicles, and instead of taxpayers footing the bill, I'd rather see this funded by fees on gasoline cars. Additionally, I advocate taxes on fossil fuel with the proceeds funding clean and safe ways to produce and store electricity. That would all benefit development of better car batteries.
McCain's policy on energy seems to be to keep supporting fossil fuel with more drilling and tax privileges, more support for the old infrastructure and nuclear power, while keeping troops in Iraq and making all the wrong moves made by the Bush administration. While I keep hoping that McCain will make a more genuine break with the Bush administration's disastrous policies, I trust that Obama will come up with better policies.
Above, I discussed France's feebate program which is a bonus/malus system encouraging car buyers to make 'greener' choices by giving a bonus for buying a low-carbon car as high as €5,000 (US$7,349), while adding fees for a car emitting higher levels of CO2 as much as €2,600 (US$3,821). Buyers of low emissions vehicles who also scrap a vehicle older than 15 years receive a super bonus of €300. In 2007, nearly 50% of the vehicles sold in France emitted less than 140 g CO2/km, according to ADEME (Agence de l’Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l’Energie). Vehicle CO2 ratings are available on the ADEME site.
Encouraged by early indications, French environment minister Jean-Louis Borloo has declared the program a success. According to official figures, sales of vehicles consuming less than 130g/km CO2 increased 45% in France in the eight months since the scheme was introduced. In that time, the average CO2 emissions from new cars sold has fallen by 9% (8g CO2/km). The overall cost to France's Budget is reportedly around €140 million, as the impact of the program has been greater than anticipated. [source 1 and source 2]
The blue bubble-shaped Bluecar will have lithium polymer metal batteries produced by Bolloré. The car will have a range of 250 km (155 miles) in the city between charges. Charging will take about four hours.
Paris city hall, which awarded the contract, said that 58% of Parisians do not have a car, adding that on average a car remains parked for 95% of its time -- 16% of Parisians use their car less than once a month.
Motorists will be able to hire Bluecars for 30 minutes for 4-8 euros plus membership fees, starting at 10-euro for one day, going up to 144 euros for one year.
MIT, who conceived the project (initially called CityCar), has partnered with Basque investment group Denokinn to deploy the Hiriko in city fleets around the world, starting with a trial rental program with 20 cars that is scheduled to begin next year in Spain’s Basque region.
The car's wheels can rotate, allowing the car to move sideways into tight parking spots. The car can also fold up, taking up even less parking space. Users can get in and out of parked cars through the windshield that swings upward.
On the image below, by Hiriko, parked cars are visible on the right, against an airport backdrop.