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Bolloré awarded City of Los Angeles contract to launch BlueLA, a revolutionary electric car sharing service

; Date: December 19, 2016

Tags: Car Sharing »»»» Electric Cars »»»» Electric Car Sharing

Bolloré offers car sharing services, using their own electric car, in Indianapolis, Paris France, and elsewhere. They're now bringing electric car sharing to Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES, CA (December 19, 2016) - A little more than a year after the launch of BlueIndy, the all-electric car sharing service in Indianapolis, the Bolloré group continues its expansion westward with BlueLA in Los Angeles, California. On December 16, following approval by the Los Angeles City Council, the City of Los Angeles signed an agreement with BlueCalifornia, the Bolloré subsidiary which will operate the service, to launch the new all-electric car sharing service.

“We are proud to have been selected following the request for qualification launched in early 2016. Los Angeles, the United States second largest city, is a wonderful showcase for our car sharing service and we aim to support the City’s environmental leadership with a commitment to affordability and equal access, allowing electric mobility to reach underserved communities”, stated Marie Bolloré, President of Blue Solutions Electric Mobility. “BlueLA is an exciting new challenge for the Bolloré group and also an opportunity to demonstrate the reliability of our unique LMP® battery, a pioneering Bolloré technology powering our car sharing vehicles around the world.”

“Every community in Los Angeles deserves cleaner air, and the opportunity to make a difference in the fight against climate change. That is why we are so proud that we can now launch the nation's first pilot program for electric vehicle sharing in disadvantaged communities. That is real progress,” said Mayor Garcetti.

The service is scheduled to open in 2017. The BlueLA service will initially include the deployment of 200 public charge points and 100 electric vehicles. Based on the uniquely convenient technology demonstrated in Europe (Autolib’, Bluely, Bluecub, and Bluetorino), in the US (BlueIndy) and soon in Asia (BlueSG), BlueLA will meet the evolving mobility needs of Angelenos with a particular focus on disadvantaged communities.

In keeping with LA’s sustainability commitment, the City of Los Angeles wants to promote the use of electric vehicles and shared mobility as a complement to its public transit network, with this new option which will be both convenient and affordable. BlueLA will be available in the communities of Westlake, Pico Union, portions of Koreatown, areas north of the University of Southern California, and portions of Downtown Los Angeles.

About Blue Solutions: Listed on the stock market since October 30, 2013, Blue Solutions groups the electricity storage activities developed by the Bolloré group. By diversifying its historic activity as a producer of ultrafine plastic papers and films, the Bolloré group has become a producer of electrical components for capacitors, holding more than one third of the world market. Based on this expertise and after 20 years of R&D, the group has developed batteries and electricity storage solutions including batteries and supercapacitors based on a unique LMP® (Lithium Metal Polymer) technology. These batteries are used in mobile applications (electric vehicles), but also in stationary applications (storage of electricity for residential, commercial and government applications). These applications developed and marketed by the group have seen a rapid development on all continents since 2011. Visit (www.blue-solutions.com) www.blue-solutions.com to learn more.

David Herron
David Herron is a writer and software engineer focusing on the wise use of technology. He is especially interested in clean energy technologies like solar power, wind power, and electric cars. David worked for nearly 30 years in Silicon Valley on software ranging from electronic mail systems, to video streaming, to the Java programming language, and has published several books on Node.js programming and electric vehicles.