Fact-checking claims about Paris electric car graveyards

For years, there have been memes and photographs circulating on-line that declare to indicate lots of of electric automobiles deserted in Paris

One meme says: “France: They bought electric cars for civil servants but it was too expensive to replace the batteries. After that, no one else wanted the cars. Now they are here.”

A tweet with the meme has been retweeted greater than 8,000 instances and has over 24,000 likes. 

A Facebook post that has been shared greater than 700 instances reveals totally different footage with a protracted caption that claims the electric car “boneyard” in Paris exists as a result of there isn’t any technique to get rid of electric car batteries that have to be changed, and the town can’t afford to pay for alternative batteries. 

Does this meme present deserted electric automobiles in France?

No, this meme doesn’t present an electric car graveyard in France. The photograph was taken in China.

Using RevEye, a reverse picture search engine, VERIFY tracked the kind of automobiles seen within the photos to Chinese website Baidu. The identical sort of auto and inexperienced emblem seen within the meme additionally seem within the photos from the web site. 

According to the web site, which is written in Chinese and translated utilizing Google Translate, there was a storage lot of three,000 “obsolete” power environment friendly automobiles situated in China’s Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province by the Qiantang River. According to the South China Morning Post, the lot was rented out in an effort to retailer the automobiles. 

Satellite imagery from Zoom Earth that was included within the Baidu article reveals the storage lot crammed with automobiles, however VERIFY couldn’t verify the date the pictures have been taken. 

On Oct. 14, VERIFY used Google Earth to search out the identical location, and the identical giant lot, however the automobiles have been not there. 

An article from website India Times that had the satellite tv for pc photos of the deserted automobiles stated the automobiles have been as soon as owned by Chinese firm Microcity, which went out of enterprise.

So, we are able to VERIFY this meme doesn’t present electric automobiles deserted in Paris, neither is there any proof the automobiles have been ever equipped to public servants. 

This isn’t the primary time claims like this have been made.

Do these photographs present a “boneyard” of electric automobiles in Paris, deserted due to battery points?

No, whereas the electric automobiles have been parked in Paris, there isn’t any proof they have been deserted due to battery points. VERIFY wrote about these photos in June 2021.

The automobiles pictured within the Facebook put up are a part of a fleet from Autolib, which was an electric car ridesharing firm that operated from 2011 to 2018. The firm’s slogan may be seen on the facet of automobiles.

The Autolib automobiles have been launched again in 2011 and have been a part of a partnership between the City of Paris and a transportation firm referred to as “Bolloré.” 

In 2016, the cope with the town started falling aside after Autolib’s dad or mum firm reported a deficit of 179.3 million euros (roughly $174 million U.S. {dollars}) and the town determined to not renew the contract, according to a press release from the city of Paris.

In July 2018, the town formally introduced on Twitter the rideshare program would not be out there.

The unique photographs which have been reshared have been first posted in March 2021 to the Vega Gex Facebook page, a French web page that has content material about electric automobiles.

According to a report from Actu Paris, which shared the Vega Gex Facebook put up, the parked automobiles have been ultimately both put in storage or bought.