Bolloré Group launches electric car sharing service in Indianapolis
03 September 2015
BlueIndy has placed into service in Indianapolis, Indiana the first 50 of an eventual 500 electric vehicles (Bluecars) that provide convenient, cleaner transportation with the swipe of a membership card. This is the France-based Bolloré Group’s first electric car sharing service in the US. Bolloré Group already operates car sharing services in several other cities, including the world’s largest EV sharing service—Autolib—in Paris.
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The Bluecars run on Lithium Metal Polymer (LMP) batteries developed by Bolloré and have a range of 120 miles between charges.
As of today, 125 parking spaces are equipped with charge points. Reserved parking spots mean no need to look for parking. As BlueIndy builds out across the city, customers will be able to take advantage of up to 1,000 parking spaces in 200 BlueIndy stations outfitted with charging infrastructure and easy-to-use customer kiosks.
Drivers will simply swipe their card across the BlueIndy car windshield. The car will automatically unlock and welcome the driver back to BlueIndy with his or her own favorite radio stations stored from previous trips.
The standard BlueIndy membership costs $9.99 per month. Members pay $4.00 for the first 20 minutes they use the car, and 20 cents for each minute thereafter. Membership can be obtained via BlueIndy’s website or at BlueIndy enrollment kiosks. A BlueIndy smartphone app is also available. Memberships may be purchased for a day, a week, a month, or a year.
BlueIndy’s car sharing service complements the city’s long-term public transit strategy, which includes expansion of IndyGo and bicycle lanes.
Until such times as UBER Type autonomous drive e-vehicles become common place, these AutoLib (and others) shared e-cars is a good solution to increase the use of public transportation and reduce traffic jams on area highways etc.
Posted by: HarveyD | 04 September 2015 at 05:25 PM