IEEE: Paris Unfurls EV Car-Sharing Program,

[Andre Kesteloot]

  Paris Unfurls EV Car-Sharing Program

*POSTED BY:* Bill Sweet  /  Thu, October 06, 2011

<http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/environment/paris-unfurls-ev-carsharing-program#><http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/environment/paris-unfurls-ev-carsharing-program#><http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/environment/paris-unfurls-ev-carsharing-program#> 


Paris, the so-called City of Light, though often rainy and dreary, has 
been doing some really exciting things in advanced transportation. For 
decades, of course, it has had one of the premier subway systems, the 
model for similar systems the world over, producing huge revenues for 
French manufacturers. Four years ago the mayor of Paris introduced a 
citywide bicycle sharing system, Vélib <http://en.velib.paris.fr/>, 
which has become hugely popular and in turn also is the model for 
systems elsewhere (most recently New York City). Two years ago France 
announced it would build a national electric vehicle charging 
infrastructure 
<http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/renewables/france-unveils-ambitious-ev-charging-plan> 
adequate to support 2 million plug-in hybrids and EVs by 2020.

Now, this week, Paris unveiled an electric car sharing system modeled on 
Vélib 
<http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2011/10/02/autolib-la-voiture-electrique-en-libre-service-debarque-a-paris_1581177_3224.html>, 
the bike program. It will enter full service on December 5, with at 
least 250 vehicles for hire. As described in the /Financial Times,/ 
"Following the Velib system, users can pick up the car at one point and 
drop it off at another destination, as long as they can find a dedicated 
parking space---something that an in-car computer system is designed to 
help identify 
<http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/2b11b384-eb72-11e0-9a41-00144feab49a.html#axzz1a1CWh33S>." 


The electric car itself, a model of simplicity 
<http://www.bluecar.fr/en/pages-accueil/default.aspx>, was developed by 
entrepreneur Vincent Bolloré.  Dubbed the Bluecar (and not to be 
confused with clean-diesel technologies developed by Daimler and VW 
<http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/green-tech/advanced-cars/dark-horse-diesel>), 
it beat out Daimler's electric Smart and a candidate developed by 
Peugeot. The Bluecar was designed and will be produced by Pininfarina, 
in Turin, Italy, which makes the Ferrari and Maserati.

The car runs on a solid-state lithium metal polymer battery 
<http://www.bluecar.fr/en/pages-innovation/batterie-lmp.aspx>, also 
developed under the Bolloré group's aegis. As described on the Bluecar's 
Web site, it "can store five times more energy than a traditional 
battery weight for weight, and can be recharged in a matter of hours. It 
does not require any maintenance and has a lifespan of around 200 000 
km, providing outstanding safety throughout."

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://amrad.org/pipermail/tacos/attachments/20111012/b89a3026/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: tools_email.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 3789 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://amrad.org/pipermail/tacos/attachments/20111012/b89a3026/attachment-0003.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: tools_print.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 3644 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://amrad.org/pipermail/tacos/attachments/20111012/b89a3026/attachment-0004.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: tools_share.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 3995 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://amrad.org/pipermail/tacos/attachments/20111012/b89a3026/attachment-0005.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 1940479
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 27438 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://amrad.org/pipermail/tacos/attachments/20111012/b89a3026/attachment-0001.jpe>