Autolib "Libre Comme L'air" electric car sharing

• cars share program started in 2011 in Paris
• Bluecar is a front wheel drive electric four-seater hatchback with a  basic interior
• 1,800 Bluecars are available at 670 kiosks in Paris
• the 660 pound (300 kg) lithium ion batteries are made in Brittany and Montreal
• vehicle range is 155 mi (250 km) in urban use and 93 mi (150 km) on highway
• more than 40,000 people have joined the car share system

Read about it on Autolib's website

smart parking in Paris

You can see fortwos on lots of street corners of Paris, parked where not many other vehicles can fit. The Renault Twizy and Fiat 500 can do the same. This fourfour I spotted is actually resting on the bumper of the fortwo behind it.

Renault Twizy

Production of this two-seater electric vehicle started in 2012 at the Renault plant in Valladoid, Spain. In Europe it's classified as a heavy quadcycle and it has a 100nkm or 62 mile range. Read more on Wikipedia or the Renault UK website

This Twizy belongs to the Château of Versailles and is ideal for driving its 7 ha or 17 acre grounds.

I photographed this Twizy on the Rue de Lisbonne, Paris.

Tiny Smart car to get redesign -- but not until 2014

The Smart ForTwo, the smallest car for sale in the U.S. and one of the older models in the market, will finally get a redesign, Automotive News reports.

Just one problem: The new one won't show up until 2014. Until then, Mercedes-Benz, which took over U.S. distribution of its Smart in July, will have to make do.

Daimler, Mercedes' German parent, is going to develop the next two-seat Smart in conjunction with Renault, which has to find a replacement for its own tiny car, the Twingo [shown above]. Renault is a French company and the Smart is built at a plant in France.

The Smart is an ingeniously engineered little car that has gone basically unchanged for more than a decade. Before it was the Smart car, it was the Swatch car, named for the Swiss watchmaker. It has been imported into the U.S. for about three years through Penske Automotive, and now Mercedes. Mercedes has launched the first national ad campaign for the car. Lately, it has been getting more competition, too. Toyota is introducing the Scion iQ, and the Fiat 500, Mini Cooper and others also compete in the smallest-car segment.

Smart is also hinting at a new four-seat model, which won't show up until 2015. Smart made a four-seater previously, but killed it due to slow sales. Penske had one in the works in a deal with Nissan, but killed it when Mercedes took over the brand.

View source.

Goupil G3

Goupil manufactures a range of light utility vehicles at its plant in Aigillon in southwest France. This "tipper with lambo doors" was photographed while on clean up duty in the centre of Cordoba, Spain. Only 1.1 m (3.6 ft) wide with a 3 m (9.8 ft) turning radius it's ideal for narrow streets in historic European cities and towns.
For details go here.

Aixam and Microcar

Aixam - Mega, founded in 1983, is based in Aix-les-Bains, on the shore of Lac du Bourget in France's Rhône-Alpes region. The Crossline [above] and Super Luxe [below] were spotted in the hill town of Mijas, Spain.



Microcar, founded in 1984, is brand of the Bénéteau Group, a yacht and boat-building company with a hundred year of history, based in Croix-de-Vie, a seaside resort on the Atlantic 70 km west of Nantes. Both of these MC1 cars were photographed at Tavira, Portugal.




Although these companies are at opposite ends of France, they have the commitment to making fuel efficient city runabouts in common. Some Aixam and Microcar models can be driven without a license in some European countries.

For more information see: Aixam, Microcar

Pics by RLT.

Bellier Divane

Spotted at Le Mans, France by RLT. Photo by Colin Marsh.
Bellier Official Website

Electric vehicles spark at Paris car show

PARIS (AFP) — Carmarkers rolled out a slew of electric models at the Paris motor show Friday, with a view to filling dealer showrooms by 2012 when new European legislation on curbing emissions kicks in.
About a third of the new models presented at the show are "clean cars" that use "a little or a lot of electricity," said Francois Roudier of the French carmakers' group CCFA.
Big names like Germany's Daimler and lesser known entities such as France's Heuliez have shown all-electric models here, hoping to cash in on both the new regulations and consumer fears over soaring oil prices.
Some are still prototypes, like Renault's ZE Concept, which the company describes as a "socially-responsible vehicle," while others are already well into the test phase, like Daimler's Smart car, which is currently being trialed in a rental scheme for companies in London.
Carmakers are in a rush to get their models onto the market before new European Union legislation kicks in in 2012.
Read full story here.

Smart produces one-millionth car

Hambach, France - Smart has built its one-millionth Fortwo at a time when the company is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Fortwo. The milestone car is a Micro Hybrid Drive in silver metallic and will be donated to charity.
“The Smart electric drive makes zero-emission driving in an urban environment a reality,” said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, president and CEO of Daimler AG. “The continuing rising demand shows the success and the potential of the Smart Fortwo from Hambach. This year we have already sold 90,000 cars, more than 16,000 of them in the U.S.A. From mid-2009, the Smart will also become a familiar sight on Chinese roads.”
The new Smart Fortwo electric drive with a lithium-ion battery will be produced in a small series from the end of 2009; the company debuted the Fortwo EV electric vehicle in 2006 and since 2007, a fleet of 100 Fortwo EVs has been tested in everyday service in London.
“The Fortwo is a success story,” said Anders Sundt Jensen, Head of Brand Management for Smart. “It has won lots of fans in 37 markets worldwide. The Smart is particularly sought-after in the U.S.A. which, even in the first year of the market launch, has become the third-strongest market after Italy and Germany. There it is already a familiar sight on the roads of cities such as Los Angeles, New York City, Washington D.C., San Francisco and Phoenix.”
The Smart plant in Hambach was inaugurated in 1997 and produced its first vehicle in 1998.
Source: Canadian Driver

France to celebrate the Citroen 2CV’s 60th anniversary

France is going to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Citroen Deux Chevaux, or Citroen 2CV as it is commonly known, this coming October with an exhibition of the car being put on specially at the Cite des Sciences et de L'industrie in Paris.
Visitors will be taken from the birth of the Citroen 2CV through the stages of its development and history.
Citroen 2CVIn 1948, when the Citroen 2CV first appeared at the Paris car show, it wasn’t and immediate success with French motorists because it only had one headlight, no starter motor and the car’s designer, Pierre Jules Boulanger, was forced to admit that it looked like an umbrella on wheels.
However, the low price of the new car meant that the poorer French people could afford one, so its popularity soared and soon there was a waiting list of five years for the Citroen 2CV, which was fast becoming a French icon.
The 2CV was economical on fuel and cheap to repair, and featured an air-cooled engine that was unlikely to go wrong as well as excellent suspension that made it the perfect family holiday car for exploring bumpy country roads.
View source.
With thanks to volksmith.

Happy 10th Birthday smart car!

10 Years Of The Smart ForTwo: Compact Model Celebrates Its Birthday

Ten years - that's how long it's been since the lovable smart fortwo first rolled off the assembly in Hambach, France. Since then, the compact two-seater has celebrated a multitude of accomplishments, being the vehicle of choice for more than 900,000 customers worldwide as well as holding title as the only automobile still in production to be displayed at New York's Museum of Modern Art.

Read full article here.
With thanks to Lourdes.

No diesel for North America

The new smart fortwo will be hitting dealerships in Canada in about two months time. The 1.0 litre gas-engined car will be the only model on offer. It will displace the current diesel-powered car, so if you want a diesel get a 2007 model while stocks last.The changeover has been dictated by the US launch of smart where the new model is being targeted at fifty cities. Canadian customers who have been sold nothing but diesel to date will be disappointed by the lack of a diesel option on the new model. A diesel version of the new car will be sold in Europe but is not expected across the pond anytime soon.
Story and photo by RLT

String Isetta

Hi Annette,
We're just back from a break in France - had a beautiful cottage in the Tarn, about 45 min from Toulouse. Went to Albi last Saturday where the attached was taking part in the Fete de la Patisserie - don't ask, but there was a huge amount of free cake!
The vehicle was charging about through the crowds. It has a cord-laced wirebody on a steel frame, and the driver sits outside, high at the back, and pedals and steers. At one point he had three large kids inside and two women on stilts sitting on the roof (again, don't ask), and was happily pedalling away, no sign of a sweat!
Great break, very restful, now back to a serious Rocket groundrush . . .
best wishes,
Peter

History of smart: smartville

We visited Smartville, Hambach, France July 2000

"The smart production plant on the Europôle de Sarreguemines industrial estate in France, about 30 kilometers south of Saarbrücken (Germany), is one of the most modern car plants in the world. The plant, which was completed in October 1997, covers an area of 68 hectares. smartville is operated by MCC France SAS, in which DaimlerChrysler AG has a 75 percent holding. The second shareholder is the French state-owned company SOFIREM (Société Financière pour favoriser l'Industrialisation des Régions Minières) with a holding of 25 percent."

See source.

The smart fortwo is manufactured at Smartville, a purpose-built factory complex in Hambach, France, established in 1994 as a joint-venture of Daimler-Benz and the Swiss watch manufacturer Swatch.

The project was originally supported by Swatch, and was nicknamed the "Swatchmobile". The car was supposed to use innovative features (such as hybrid engine) and to be an affordable car for young people. Its purpose was to "transport two people and a case of beer" (later replaced by a case of water).

Being inexperienced in automobiles, Swatch CEO Nicolas Hayek sought an established car maker to produce his Swatch car, and found a partner in Volkswagen. Plans never reached a final stage so Swatch teamed up with Daimler-Benz. The car proved to be far from expectations: technology was conventional and it was more expensive than most small 4-seater cars sold in Europe. The joint venture experienced heavy losses and Swatch pulled out.

In 2005, DaimlerChrysler decided against purchasing a 50% share in the NedCar plant used to manufacture the forfour. DC also halted development on the formore.

Source: www.answers.com

Visit to smartville

We went to smartville, Hambach, Lorraine, France in the summer of 2000. The smarcars were lined up as far as the eye could see. It was amazing to see truckloads of them leaving the plant. Tours of smartville can be arranged for groups but booking must be done well in advance.

smartville, Hambach, Lorraine

"Today, smartville shows itself to be a progressive, harmonious and well-structured production park. The buildings surprise through their open architecture, which give(s) and impression of transparency and through their unconventionally cross-shaped formation. An extraordinary internationally understandable direction system, which works with pictograms and colour-coding, helps with orientation in the grounds and halls.

There are no typical(ly) industrial lawns in smartville, but rather natural open fields, ponds and clusters of trees. And this is not simply for the sake of nice appearance. The powder spraying process (Surtema) has earned smartville the 1998 environmental Prize of the ADEME environmental agency (Trophee Environnement). In addition all buildings are free from harmful substances such as formaldehyde, CFCs and asbestos. 80% of the facade cladding consists of European fast-growing wood. The fenced area is registered and validated according to the EUI-Eco-audit regulations. smartville is managed by MCC France SAS."