Auto bleue hits the road... will you be getting behind the wheel?

Mayor Christian Estrosi charging up an electric car in one of the new stations in Nice © Philippe Viglietti

Nice has become the first city in France to implement such a large-scale public car-sharing scheme using electric cars going ahead of even Paris, where the first Autolib will be launched in October.

The first station, located on avenue Thiers, was inaugurated in February and this month the scheme expands to 17 stations (15 in Nice, one in Cagnes-sur-Mer and one in Saint Laurent-du-Var) and 51 cars. The number of autos will increase to 210 when the scheme is in full swing and they include Peugeot iOns and Citroen Berlingo Venturis.

Each station has five parking spaces, three of which are reserved for the exclusive usage of those renting an auto bleue whilst two are available for those driving their own electric vehicle. This is to help ‘electro’ converts to access a recharge point. Under the same initiative, Nice's public car parks are to be equipped over time with recharging facilities.

The city authorities will develop the public transport scheme at cost of 2.8 million euros in total, half of which will be provided by the French government. However, with a potential driving range of 100 kilometres, one shared electric car is expected to replace up to eight privately owned ones and is thus well worth the investment.

For people carrying driving licenses from outside of France, the good news is that anyone with a valid license from anywhere in the world can use the super convenient cars. All you need to do is pay a 25 euros subscription fee and after this you can hire an auto bleue for 8 euros an hour. Considering there is no petrol or parking to pay on top, this is a very attractive price.

There are also deals that can reduce the cost to as little as four euros per hour. A fixed evening rate for five hours, for example, is 20 euros.

One downside of the scheme is that cars, unlike vélos, must be returned to the same spot. On the other hand, this at least guarantees that there will always be a space for it to be returned to - something with which the city’s ‘blue’ cyclists often contend!

AA