Marie-Hélène Massot

Praxitèle: Preliminary Results from the Saint-Quentin Station-Car Experiment

The Praxitèle system is the first large-scale, operational, public individual-transportation system—or station-car system—using self-service electric vehicles. It was developed in France by a consortium of industrial companies and research institutes, formed in 1993. Its operation started in the city of Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, a high-tech center near Paris, at the end of 1997 with 50 electric vehicles from Renault. At midterm in the experiment, close to 500 participants were using the system. This is the first report on the experiment, which continued until the end of 1998. Preliminary conclusions show that users have expressed a high level of satisfaction and a desire to expand the system. However, no conclusion can be drawn yet on the economics of such a system, which remains expensive and underutilized.