Called BlueIndy, the program will be nearly identical to the Autolib’ service that Bollore has operated in the city of Paris, France, since 2011. Users will be asked to pay a small monthly membership fee whose rate has not been set yet, and they will be charged $5 to borrow a car for 20 minutes. The cars can be returned at any BlueIndy station in Indianapolis but they cannot be taken outside of city limits.
BlueIndy will exclusively rent a smart fortwo-like city car dubbed Blue Car. Penned by Italy’s Pininfarina, the Blue Car is powered by a compact all-electric drivetrain that stores energy in a lithium-ion battery pack designed and built in-house by Bollore. It offers space for up to four passengers and it boasts anywhere between 93 and 155 miles of range depending on driving conditions.
Bollore is currently building 25 BlueIndy rental stations and 1,000 public charging stations across Indianapolis. The company plans on kicking off the program with at least 500 Blue Cars but it has not announced when the infrastructure will be operational.
Indianapolis mayor Greg Ballard has been an avid supporter of the BlueIndy program. He has often voiced his desire to replace at least 3,100 city-owned gas-powered cars with cleaner electric, hybrid or natural gas-burning models by 2025, and he has pledged to turn Indianapolis into “the most electric city of the country.”
Bollore executives hope to offer their car-sharing service in other U.S. cities once the Indianapolis pilot program is up and running. Hervé Muller, the president of BlueIndy, believes car-sharing programs will primarily be popular among younger buyers who don’t want to take on the financial responsibility of owning a car.
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