Combine ZipCar-style checkout with the flexibility of bike sharing and you get Autolib', Paris' new car sharing system.
With Autolib', you can drive the car one-way and find your own way back if you like, but there's a catch: you can only leave it at a designated Autolib' spot, and you have to plug it in.
Yonah Freemark has the story:
"There will be 1,120 stations by next year (up from 33 currently), with 508 planned in the city itself."
"Paris is not the first to pioneer point-to-point car share at a large scale, though it is the first to do so with a fully electric fleet. Car2Go, a subsidiary of car manufacturer Daimler, has since 2008 provided such a car sharing option first in Ulm and then in Austin, Hamburg, and now Vancouver with two-seater Smart Cars, which Daimler makes. The expansion of Car2Go suggests that the point-to-point model is economically profitable and that people appreciate the concept."
FULL STORY: Car Sharing 2.0 Leaps Forward in Paris
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