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Report 3 of 5:
Liselec
- France
Introduction
Cars and other vehicles are largely responsible for air pollution in cities. Engine combustion discharges 80% of the carbon monoxide, 70% of the nitrogen oxides, 60% of the hydrocarbons and 80% of the lead oxides present in the city air. Leaked oils and fuels infiltrate the soil and pollute rivers. Dark dusts and exhausts cause respiratory diseases and blacken historic monuments. The financial consequences upon society are very high.
To take advantage of a city, people have to be able to move about with a minimum of stress, hassle and wasted time. They also need to be able to avoid the inconvenience of overcrowded streets, while enjoying clean air and a quiet environment. By providing easy access to self-service rental of electric cars, Liselec offers a solution to the main issues faced by local authorities.
Because no two cities are alike, Liselec is designed for customised solutions. It works with local authorities to prepare a profile of the services that are most appropriate for their needs. The process includes an in-depth study of the city's demographic, sociological and urban features, and a joint analysis of existing transit possibilities and traffic flows.
La Rochelle, France
The city of La Rochelle, on France's Atlantic coast, has long been a pioneer in urban environmental protection and city-friendly public transit systems. It decided to install a fleet of self-service electric cars and commercial operations began in September 1999.
Liselec
Liselec is a city-friendly solution that makes "clean" transportation available to a greater part of the population. It is an innovative, alternative urban transportation system that makes it easier to get around by extending the range of public transport while safeguarding the city environment. The programme comprises a fleet of electric cars parked at strategic locations around the city. Programme members use a contactless smart card to access the cars and return them back quickly and easily.
The electric cars are always available in high-traffic locations which makes it easier to reach downtown areas and circulate within them. The cars are as flexible to use as a personal car but have the advantage of members being guaranteed to find a parking space at each recharging station because they are shared by a number of drivers which optimises the use of parking areas.
A fleet of 50 vehicles
The 50 electric vehicles - 25 Peugeot 106s and 25 Citroën Saxos - are available round the clock at six recharging stations located near high-use locations, such as the train station, the university, the cultural centre, the sports complex and the downtown shopping area.
A card for each member
Subscribers access the cars with smart cards, which in the future may be valid for other kinds of transit systems. The Liselec programme has proven highly successful with the inhabitants of La Rochelle, who appreciate not only the system's ease of use, flexibility and reliability but also the opportunity to enjoy driving an electric car.
Liselec control centre
The control centre supervises the self-rental system:
- Sells contracts
- Deals with customer relations
- Monitors fleet dispatch
- Dispatches cars to different locations
- Carries out cleaning operations
- Recharges vehicles
The stations/recharging terminals are equipped with a control unit and the cars record all the journeys.
Cost
Customers use a smart card to pay in advance in order to borrow one of the cars without any further administrative procedures. The transaction ends once the vehicle has been returned to any one of the six centres.
Flat monthly rates - one to six hours of use with unlimited mileage
Package rates - monthly subscription, cost of actual consumption (duration and mileage)
Using Liselec
- Choose the monthly contract that suits your needs - either a fixed hourly fee or a membership programme that bills for actual use. In either case, you will be issued with a wallet sized contactless smart card and a password.
- Go to any of the Liselec recharging stations where you will find a number of electric Peugeot 106s and Citroën Saxos. The car is charged and ready to go if the green light on the rear is lit.
- The smart card should be waved in front of the terminal which is visible through the left rear window and the doors unlock automatically.
- Once inside you enter your password into the keypad which is located to the right of the driver's seat to release the vehicle lock.
- When returning the vehicle to a Liselec station, the password is re-entered into the keypad. The elapsed time will appear on the screen. To lock the door, the smart card should be waved in front of the terminal.
Advantages of Liselec's self-service rental scheme
- Cost
- Easy to use - a contract, a pass and a secret code
- Electric drive performance
- Useful link with public transport system
- Operational 7 days a week
- The cars are completely quiet and pollution-free
Specifications of an electric vehicle
Manufacturers can develop their own vehicles in an electric version for sale on the market. The estimated lifetime of an electric car exceeds ten years. Unlike thermal engines, the engine of an electric vehicle does not require any periodical maintenance.
Range: 80 km. In a city a driver only drives about 30 km a day. An electric car will only need to be recharged every 2 or 3 days, preferably overnight.
Recharge: A simple 16A outlet is enough. An electric vehicle can be recharged at home, at night, or by using the numerous normal and rapid recharging points installed in the city. Using a smart card, allows a user to recharge for 100 km at a cost of 10 francs (US$2.00).
For further information, please contact:
ITDG would like to acknowledge Liselec, in particular Jacques Mollard and Jean-Michel Couturier, for providing all the original information in this document.
This document is an output from a project funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) for the benefit of developing countries. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the DFID.
Further reading available from ITDG Development Bookshop
Electric Vehicles: With Aspects on Developing Countries
M Eisenring
This publication comprises five parts. The first section deals with the history of electric vehicles, the possibilities and the limits of electric vehicles, their usage and potential market, legal regulations, conditions for electric vehicles in developing countries and solar powered vehicles. The second chapter reviews EV technology, power and energy calculations, vehicle conception, batteries, battery charging and drive systems. The focus in the third chapter is on activities and the market situation in the industrialised world and in developing countries. EV energy consumption, environmental impacts and lifecycle economics are studied in the fourth chapter. The final chapter presents future prospects of the development of electric vehicles.
£12.95 1998 PB SKAT ISBN 3908001838
From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank: The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative
Joshua Tickell
As pollution envelops the world's cities, temperatures on planet Earth rise, and once rich oil fields run dry, researchers scramble to find solutions to the impending transportation crisis. But the fuel of the future may be hidden places nobody thought to look. In >From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank, expert Joshua Tickell unveils the problems with our fossil fuel economy and offers a surprisingly simple solution: cheap, clean-burning vegetable oil. This book provides concise, easy to understand instructions for running a Diesel engine on vegetable oil. Packed with photos, graphs and diagrams, it contains all the information you need to become independent of fossil fuels forever.
£19.95 2000 PB TEC ISBN 0970722702
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