Indy councilors question BlueIndy safety

• Electric cars need airbags%2C bigger bumpers.
• Company wants system running by summer%27s end.

City-County councilors are questioning the safety of the BlueIndy electric rental cars the city wants rolling this summer.

Two members have asked BlueIndy, a subsidiary of the French conglomerate Bolloré Group, to provide evidence the cars will meet U.S. safety standards.

"These cars were designed to meet European standards, but I want to know if they have passed U.S. safety inspections," said Department of Public Works Committee Chairman Zach Adamson.

The four-seat, three-door electrical vehicles will anchor the BlueIndy network of at least 500 cars at 200 locations across the city. So far, only five demonstration models are in use, at a station on Washington Street in Downtown Indianapolis.

Those models don't have passenger-side airbags, and their bumpers are smaller than required by U.S. vehicle standards, conceded Hervé Muller, president of BlueIndy.

But he said when the system is up and running, all the cars will be fitted with the airbags and bumpers. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration allows non-compliant imported vehicles into the country for demonstrations, racing, training and investigations, according to an official with the agency.

"When we go into commercial use, those will be U.S. models," Muller said. "They'll have the additional airbags and a bumper that is a little bigger than required in the European models and some other modifications."

"The cars we have on display now are temporary to show people how they work," he said.

The information was expected to be presented to the committee Thursday, when the city will update councilors on the program.

Bolloré has run a successful car-sharing program in Paris since 2011 and just began one in London, but this will be the company's first United States operation. The Paris operation has 3,000 cars and 80,000 members; London hopes to achieve those numbers in five years.

Muller said he is eager to get BlueIndy running here. The company signed a contract with the city in April 2014, and the demonstration cars have been Downtown since last fall.

But the program hit a snag when state regulators failed to give Indianapolis Power & Light all of a requested rate hike to pay for the building of electrical connections to charging stations.

Muller, whose company is investing $41 million, said he was now aiming to get started before the end of the summer.

"We are investing a lot of money and obviously aren't collecting any new revenue now," he said. "But we have got employees on board and are spending money on construction."

The first 12 stations are being built around Downtown, but they will sprawl across the city into each township when construction is complete.

Muller said BlueIndy will hire 50 people by the end of this year and another 50 by the end of 2016. They will be office workers, station assistants and roving technicians who will repair cars and equipment.

Mayoral deputy chief of staff David Rosenberg told councilors that the system will have long-term benefits for the city beyond BlueIndy, because of the investment in charging stations.

The chargers also will be available for citizens to plug in their private cars and for the city's electrical vehicles, he said.

Muller said Bolloré chose Indianapolis for several reasons, but tops among them was Mayor Greg Ballard's willingness to explore alternative forms of transportation.

"A close partnership with political leadership is essential," Muller said.

Indianapolis was ideal because it has huge voids in public transportation that the rental cars can fill, has an active Downtown, plenty of college students and new rental units under construction to attract young residents who might not own cars, Muller said.

"We see this as an expansion of public transit," Muller said. "And Indianapolis has an active Downtown that doesn't close down after 5 p.m., like some cities."

Call Star reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418 and follow on Twitter @john_tuohy.

Station locations

Construction is underway on BlueIndy charging stations at these 12 locations.

Station Name, Street Address

Washington & Illinois, 107 W. Washington St.

Statehouse East, 49 N. Capitol Ave.

Ohio & Pennsylvania, 103 E. Ohio St.

City County Building, 11 N. Delaware St.

Fountain Square, 1107 E. Morris St.

Irvington, 27 S. Audubon Road

University of Indianapolis, 3996 Shelby St.

Broad Ripple & College, 731 Broad Ripple Ave.

City Market, 121 N. Delaware St.

Convention Center North, 228 W. Maryland St.

Mass Ave 2, 476 N. New Jersey St.

IUPUI, 333 University Blvd.