Self-Service Electric Cars in La Rochelle

Self-Service Electric Cars in La Rochelle Female: Getting people onto a bike isn't always easy. It maybe simpler to tempt drivers out of their cars into pollution free models which can be shared or poured for commuter use around in the cities cutting congestion into the bargain. Jacques: La Rochelle is using electric cars since 1986. We think it’s successful. We are increasing year after years the fleet, the electric fleet. And we try to share with our cities and other countries what we do to show what good it is for the city. Female: Liselec is a public transport scheme allowing both commuters and businessman to share a pool of zero emission non-polluting electric cars to navigate around the city. Anne Chane: Fifty cars are located on 6 different stations in the city center of La Rochelle. And when you want to use this service, you just have to sign a contract then we will give you using a smart card that enables you to unlock and lock the doors of the car and a secret code. After, you will be able to take your car wherever you want, whenever you want 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Female: One of the schemes funds, Alexandra uses the car to commute and shop. She's always guaranteed a parking space at one of the cities six dedicated parking lots. Alexandra: I can park in a space close to home then there are a couple of parking spaces in the center of the town for shopping and one of the station if I want to take a train. This means I can always find a space. I've never had trouble parking. Female: With only slight modifications to La Rochelle, an electric motor and nickel cadmium battery supply can be fitted. This assembly can produce up to 9 cars per day, but this depends on demand. The estimated lifetime of an electric car is more than ten years. The engine requires far less maintenance than an ordinary car. For example, you only need to top up the battery with soft water every ten thousand kilometers. On the outside, it looks exactly the same as its petroleum driven cousin. Jacques: We have electric car in every council department and we also have an electric boat for passengers which are working all day long. Female: The most difficult logistic is making sure there's always a supply of cars in the dedicated parking areas. At the central control room, staffs monitor the position of the cars moving them with necessary to places where the demand is greatest. And moving the maintenance team also ensure that the cars are clean and recharged ready for the next customer. Experience shows that within the city, the drivers average around 30 kilometers a day. So each car only needs recharging once every two to three days. Whenever possible it’s done over night as it takes between five and eight hours to charge. Jacques: We try to demonstrate to other cities that it could be a good way for the quality of life in our cities and for next century. Later on fuel cell system will be better. I think the idea we try to share is that today is a car is really going to follow daily use as you take as possible today not tomorrow.