Autocar.co.uk: Electric rental car scheme to land in London next year
London's Autolib' cars are expected to be finished in red
The French electric car rental scheme Autolib’ is heading for the UK. The company says it will open its second overseas franchise in London in summer 2015.
Nearly 3000 of the Pininfarina-designed electric cars are currently based in central Paris. The scheme has recently been expanded to Lyon and Bordeaux and is about to open in Indianapolis in the US.
Autocar can also reveal that the scheme's car supplier Bolloré has signed a deal to have its battery-powered Bluecars built by Renault at its Alpine plant in Dieppe.
Cédric Bolloré, the development director for Autolib’s parent company, said the company is also working on a three-seat electric rental car with Renault. The new model will be "lighter [than the current car] and fits the needs of typical Autolib’ trips, which average 2.2 passengers per journey".
It is expected that the London rental scheme will go live in September 2015 with between 200 and 250 of the Bluecars available for hire. The cars will be right-hand drive and are likely to be painted bright red (probably with the same Pantone 485 ‘Safety Red’ used by London buses).
The pricing of the scheme is expected to be similar to that in Paris, with a £100 annual fee to join and a charge of around £5 for 30 minutes’ use.
Cédric Bolloré told Autocar that Transport for London (TfL) had been asked by London Mayor Boris Johnson to organise the electric car rental scheme. It had been put out to open tender and Bolloré won the contract, which Autocar understands will run for an initial 12 years.
Autolib’ has already taken over the Source London charging points, and more charging points will be installed in the 27 of the 33 London boroughs which have signed up for the rental scheme.
The company says it will standardise the charging systems across the city and ensure that they are fully functional. Owners of private electric plug-in vehicles will also be allowed to use the Autolib’ charging points for a charge.
The government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles will pay the installation and maintenance costs of the chargers.
The London boroughs signed up for the Autolib’ scheme will have to allocate permanent parking spaces for the rental cars and the charging points. Autolib’ will compensate the boroughs for the loss of parking revenue, Autocar understands.
Cédric Bolloré says he sees no reason why the London Autolib’ scheme should not expand at the same rate as it has in Paris, which currently has nearly 3000 rental cars on its streets. If the London scheme expands at the same rate as the original scheme, there could be as many as 3000 hire cars across the capital by 2018.
However, unlike Paris, which is noted for its wide boulevard streets, finding sufficient permanent parking spaces for the London Autolib’ scheme could be difficult. The ‘Boris bikes’ rbicycle ental scheme and various car-sharing schemes already have parking spaces on permanent allocation.
