Paris' electric car-sharing program one of largest

PARIS - Paris, in its latest bid to be an innovator of the Cityof Tomorrow, is launching an electric car-sharing program to cut airand noise pollution on the city's medieval cobblestone streets andbeyond.

Autolib', a project built on the success of the city's bike-rental scheme, makes its debut today and officials want the self-service e-cars to be as much a part of Paris life as the EiffelTower or Notre Dame Cathedral.

While many world cities have been developing greener alternativesto carbon-emitting vehicles, Paris says its program is the biggestof its kind: 250 vehicles hit the road on Monday, 2,000 are expectedby next summer and 3,000 are planned within the next two years.

The four-seat compact Bluecar - even though it's really gray - isa collaboration of Italian car designer Pininfarina and Frenchconglomerate Groupe Bollore, which hopes to showcase its LithiumMetal Polymer battery that powers the car.

Prospective users will need a valid ID, driver's license andcredit card before signing up online or by a videoconference with ancustomer service representative at one of 40 special glassed-inshelters in Paris and dozens of suburban towns also taking part.

Standard subscriptions cost (euro) 10 ($13.5) a day, (euro) 15($20) a week, and (euro) 144 ($195) a year. Beyond that, the hourlyfees run from (euro) 4 to (euro) 9 based on the rental plan - andusers' cards can be charged in case of damage to the vehicles.

To get going, users swipe a magnetized card against a driver's-side window to open the door, and a key tethered to the steeringcolumn starts the car. It comes with bells and whistles, literally -a button on the steering column lever produces a repetitive beep toalert Paris' many pedestrians that the silent car is on its way.

"The city's first interest is fighting air pollution, these carsnot only don't emit carbon dioxide but localized exhaust fumeseither - and they don't make noise: (Studies show) the No. 1nuisance in the city is noise," said Sylvain Marty, who heads themulti-city Autolib' partnership led by Paris and private-sectoraffiliates.

Autolib' also tackles what automotive analysts have long said isa big hurdle for the development of electric cars: a lack ofinfrastructure - not enough charging stations. For (euro) 180 ayear, owners of electric cars can use the spots to juice up theirown vehicles at the Autolib' charging stations.

For the last six months, crews with jackhammers have beenoutfitting sidewalks with some of the 1,200 charging stations andmarking off parking spaces that will be reserved exclusively forAutolib' users.

Those promoting the vehicle say it can run for 150 miles on asingle charge.

"I personally tried driving it more than four hours, in traffic,with the heat on full blast and I wasn't able to get it below 70percent charge," said Marty. "For city use, that's more thanenough."

Some 2,000 people have already registered for Autolib' accounts,and curious city officials from places like Guangzhou, China, or Riode Janeiro have traveled to Paris to check it out, Marty said.

As is often France's wont, detractors and skeptics abound.

The country's main Green party movement says the electric carswill drain more energy from France's nuclear plants, which theyoppose; will require battery disposal; and will ultimately encouragepeople to drive more.

City officials insist there's little risk to taxpayers, becausethe private sector companies have signed a 12-year commitment.

Groupe Bollore, which is headed by a friend of conservativeFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy, says at least 80,000 subscriberare needed for the program to be profitable - not expected for sevenyears, officials say.

"We're banking on word of mouth from people who try it, like it,and tell themselves 'I've got to sign up!'" Marty said.

Other cities have similar projects, but much smaller in scale.

Berlin launched a pilot program last spring that combines anetwork of 40 electric cars and bicycles with the city's existingpublic transport system. Those cars, owned by German railwayoperator Deutsche Bahn, are part of a fleet of 65 electric vehiclesalso in Hamburg, Frankfurt and Saarbruecken.

Switzerland's biggest car-sharing organization, Mobility, hasstarted offering electric cars at some of its hundreds of pickuppoints across the country.

Promoters know Autolib' is no panacea: Even at 3,000 vehicles, itwon't be big enough to replace personal vehicles or public transportas the principal way of getting around a metro area of roughly 12million people.

"Autolib' is all about complementing other means of transport -this isn't about competing with public transportation or" the bikesharing program, said Marty.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A member of the media looks at a parkingstation for the Autolib electric car-share scheme on a street inParis.