London's "Boris Bike" cycle hire scheme has been a huge success since its launch in 2010. Now a French billionaire wants to apply a similar model to cars. IER, a subsidiary Vincent Bolloré's Bolloré Group, has announced plans to roll out a hire scheme for electric cars within the capital.
It had been announced in December 2013 that IER had won a contract from TfL to consider over the management and operation of Source London, the city's electric vehicle charging network, from June 2014. Included in the deal, IER agreed to install 1,500 new electric vehicle charging terminals across London, getting the total to 6,000 by 2018. The firm also proposed a fresh Source London website, a fresh set of mobile apps along with a London-based sales office.
The firm's announcement this week confirms those proposals and, furthermore, lays out plans for any electric vehicle hire scheme that includes a 24/7 call center, maintenance service and reservation system. Users will also be in a position to book the vehicles while using new Source London apps, which will use geo-location to enable them to find the nearest available vehicle.
""These are exciting and ambitious plans that will take Source London and electric car sharing in our city to the next level, said Mayor of London Boris Johnson inside a press release. ""We’re planning to see more charging points popping up across London, that will drive the take-up of these cleaner, greener machines and help to reduce air pollution too.
IER's parent company, Blue Solutions, presented a similar scheme in Paris, which has been running since 2011. Autolib has over 45,000 active subscribers making between 9,000 and 13,000 car journeys each day, based on the Bolloré Group.
""I believe that London might be the world’s most innovative sustainable transport city and our announcement today can be another step on the path to this goal, said Vincent Bolloré within a press release. He continued, ""Electric car sharing continues to be tremendously popular in Paris and we believe it could be as equally successful in London, offering people a convenient and low priced form of environmentally-friendly transport.
Electric car hire will cost £10 (US$17) an hour, £5 ($8) for 30 minutes and £2.50 ($4) for 15 mins. You will see a £5 ($8) monthly membership charge or users are able to simply subscribe for the day.
Source: IER