I was in Paris on transit, and decided to try the electric car sharing service that is proving to be very popular. So much so, that they are planning an electric scooter sharing service...
To "rent" the eCar, you need to register. You can do that with the free smartphone app, or go to one of the many booths that are installed close to the eCar parking. In Paris there are many parking for these cars, and I mean a lot. Not every corner, but never far.
The booth to register is cute (forgot to make a photo, sorry), and once inside you press one of two buttons in the touch screen. The buttons say Francais and English (yes, they provide extensive help in English). Once pressed, a video conference is opened with their help desk. They talk you through the registration, including scanning of your driving license, passport/ID card and they make a photo if you for your id card. They then print an electronic badge that is delivered at the printer in the booth. The whole thing lasts about 5 minutes.
You specify what kind of registration you want, a day-by-day, which is free, but the hourly rate is the highest (I think it's €9 per hour, but it could also be 30 minutes for that price). If you take a longer subscription, which has a base fee, it can go down to €5.
You can walk up to any of the parking places and go straight to the booth, but you can luck out and end up not having a car. Better use the free smartphone app that allows you to find the closest station to you with available cars. You can then reserve a car simply by pressing a button. You then have 30 minutes to get the car. Simple. The app also tells you how to get to the station, step by step.
Once there you go to the system pillar:
Once you swipe your electronic badge at this pillar, the screen welcome you by name, knows that you have reserved and asks if you want to watch a quick introduction video how to use the car (all that in English).
Several of the cars are hooked up to their lifeline. Cute cars, 2+2 config, ie, 2 adults and 2 (big) kids.
The inside is simple (and cheap), and despite no smoking signs, people have been smoking a lot in the car, so it stinks of smoke. No respect. Getting in the car requires the electronic badge that is swiped close to a sensor next to the driver-side mirror. That unlocks the doors.
Above is the speed counter, battery indicator and trip and distance available:
Below it is a touchscreen LCD screen that welcome you by name, and can also show you a video how to use the car. You can specify your destination and the GPS takes over, but you can also call for help and talk to the helpdesk right in the car.
There's also a radio, and some other data like where the parkings are, which ones are free (if you haven't reserved) and temperatures.
You can see from the top that I had reserved one parking. The green balloons with "3 and "2" are stations with the number of available cars.
and yes, the car is an automatic.
Once arrived at your destination, close the car, plug in the electrical lead and swipe your badge over the charger. You immediately get an SMS saying that the rental is closed, plus the price. In my case, I crossed the city in 20 minutes costing me €6. Not bad.
The top of each charger has color light, showing whether they are available, reserved or charging.
As cars go, it's zippy, quick enough and the brakes are very powerful (regen type as is the engine brake).
What's interesting for electric motorcycles and scooters, is that you can charge for free at one of the charging points for a maximum of 2 hours!! After that you are charged a nominal amount. And again, you can reserve a charging point for your motorcycle using your smartphone app.
All very simple and elegant.
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Topic: A close look at the Paris electric car sharing service (Read 1076 times)