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Abstract
European cities have emerged as laboratories for ‘sustainable mobility'. In the last few years, they have supported numerous electric car projects which combine clean engine technologies with offers on public or shared mobility. This paper compares two ongoing public electric car services in Berlin (BeMobility) and Paris (Autolib’). We explain how both projects shape future visions of sustainable mobility and transform regional transport systems in specific ways through their performative impact as local transport policy tools. Focusing on the socio-economic and political processes through which both projects were conceived and put into practice, we explain their differences as they reflect participating actors' interests in a French versus German industrial and transport policy context after the economic crisis in 2008. We find that whereas BeMobility integrates electric cars as one element in Berlin's intermodal transport system, and thus is centred around ‘intermodality' as the central vision of sustainable transport, Autolib’ in Paris essentially reproduces the dominant mode of private passenger car transport through adding a shared electric car fleet.
Notes
1. Free-floating car-sharing systems are systems in which cars can be used and parked anywhere. In contrast, in ‘stationary' public car-sharing, cars can be booked and parked at fixed stations (see Firnkorn & Müller, Citation2011). Both models allow one-way use if cars do not need to be returned to a ‘home base'.
2. In this paper, we use the term ‘electric car' referring to the battery electric vehicle, i.e. a car moving only with an electric engine and a rechargeable battery.
3. This idea is not new. The electric car appeared in the 1970s' oil crises and was implemented in numerous fleet tests in the 1990s (France: Peugeot LISELEC at la Rochelle, Germany: VW/Rügen), however, without market effects. Since then, transforming mobility patterns, increasing emission problems and high prices for gasoline have created more favourable conditions for the diffusion of electric vehicles.
4. In a similar effort on a small and local scale, in 2011 Volkswagen started a local station-bound car-sharing service in Hanover with 200 Golf BlueMotion Diesel as Quicar and additional customized offers with cars from other segments for families or commercial use. Under the label DriveNow, BMW offers a free-floating use of mini cars in several German cities. A comprehensive ‘mobility' offer is made by Peugeot with Mu, a rental service including (electric) bikes, small cars and light utility vehicles, and scooters, on demand. Citroën has extended its multicity offer in France and Germany, allowing car and scooter rental journey planning and ‘call a car' service delivered at home.
5. The term ‘hype' is used, for example, in Transport & Environment (Citation2009).
6. SNCF is the French national railway company.
7. Vinci is one of the most important construction and concessions group in the world, financing, designing, managing and implementing public and private transports, facilities, water and energy networks and public infrastructures.
8. Avis is a French short- and long-term car rental company.
9. The RATP Group is the French major public transport company operating in collective mobility such as bus, metro, train and tramway in Ile-de-France (Paris and Greater Paris).
10. Bolloré group is one of the most important world import/export companies. Activities range from media to transport and paper production.
11. Unpublished figure, confirmed in interview at Autolib’.
12. All interview quotes are translated from French and German into English by the authors.
13. This is a marginal impact. According to APUR, a public agency observing urbanism and socio-demographic developments of Paris and its suburbs, the city of Paris’ car fleet was 537,382 vehicles in 2006 and has continuously diminished since then. Paris and its suburbs counted more than 4.3 million vehicles in the same year (APUR, Citation2010).
14. Montreuil, Gentilly, Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, Ivry, Vincennes, Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, Aubervilliers, Saint-Denis and Clichy-la-Garenne.
15. Union des Loueurs professionnels: Union of Commercial renters.
16. The mentioned amounts refer to research, development and implementation of the cars and charging infrastructure. They could so far not be confirmed by other independent sources.
17. From 2012, three automotive clusters hosting headquarters of car makers, that is, Stuttgart, Munich, Wolfsburg and Berlin as the capital region, were defined as ‘showcase' regions for new mobility services based on electric cars.
18. Calculations based on BeMobility final project report and BMVBS (Citation2011). The total cost is estimated by doubling private partners’ funding shares, as government funded 50% of their overall investments.
19. Hereafter referred to as ‘DB'. Beyond its national rail services, Berlin's S-Bahn and suburban train network operation, DB has extended its activities into electric car rental (called ‘Flinkster') and public bike rental (DB Call-a-Bike).
20. The offer (78€/month) included a monthly ticket for the public transport system, a 50€ voucher to use DB ‘e-Flinkster', car-sharing offer for electric cars and free DB call a bike rental for 30 minutes per journey. Twenty parking spaces (contipark) were free for users as well as 100 public charging stations in Berlin. In its final phase, a total of 40 electric and hybrid cars could be rented.
