The future of the electric car (Pt. 3)

It was announced Monday that London mayor Boris Johnson is looking towards adopting "hire an electric car" idea from France.

London is already planning to implement a similar idea--but with bicycles--in 2010, which is also inspired by a French program, Vélib. Both programs work much like Zipcar; there are bicycles or electric cars available at set places around the city and users pay a fee to drive them around. They could be returned to any station.

Johnson has created a task-force called the London Electric Vehicle Partnership to encourage automakers to develop more efficient electric cars. They are also studying the charging infrastructure in the city and beginning tests.

In France, the program is set to begin at the end of 2009 with 700 pick-up points throughout Paris.