Paris to introduce rental electric cars

PARIS, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Paris officials say they will introduce a rental self-service plan with 3,000 small electric vehicles available at 1,000 locations in the city and its suburbs.

The program, dubbed Autolib, is similar to the city's successful Velib bike rental program introduced in 2007 and copied by cities around the world, Britain's The Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

The program will cost $15 per month for annual subscribers, who will then be required to pay $6.50 for the first half-hour of use, $5 for the next and $8 for every extra 30 minutes behind the wheel.

The idea, as with Velib, is to encourage short trips.

One-time weekly subscriptions will cost $20 and daily passes $13.

Drivers will be able to book on the Internet, by phone or at the rental stations, and can book parking spots at the destination station in advance.

Socialist Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe has declared war on privately owned cars, creating a network of bus and cycle lanes, and says he plans to make large areas of the city center and riverside boulevards pedestrian-only zones, the Telegraph said.

A city study found the average car in the French capital spends about 95 percent of its time parked. Only 42 percent of Parisians own a car, it found, and 16 percent use theirs less than once a month.