In an attempt to emulate its Velib bike rental scheme, Paris will launch its Autolib electric car hire venture next September. The scheme, the largest in the world, aims to offer Parisians the opportunity of being able to pick up a car whenever and wherever they need it. The idea is that by giving Paris residents the opportunity to pick up cars on demand the city will become less congested and less polluted.

Deputy Mayor, Annick Lepetit, claims that when the Autolib scheme is up and running, many residents will be able to do away with car ownership completely. She added that residents will now be able to have access to vehicles without having to deal with the expense and hassle of actually owning a car. The vehicles can be picked up and dropped off at rental stations throughout the city.

Lepetit estimates that it costs around $7,000 per year just to keep a car in the city. She claims that using the Autolib scheme will cut that cost dramatically.

Bill Moore, from EV World, a magazine specialising in electric vehicles, said the Autolib idea could prove to be a model for the rest of the world to follow. He added that there were some obvious hurdles to get over, such as theft and vandalism, but that if this could be achieved, the idea was a good one.

Officials claim that the vehicles will be designed in a way that makes them difficult to steal or destroy. When the Velib rental scheme was launched over a quarter of the original bikes were stolen, vandalised or ended up in the river Seine.