Montreal's car sharing service — Communauto — is looking to expand by launching a pilot project in the Plateau Mont Royal borough that will allow people to rent electric cars without any reservations.

The project, called Auto-mobile, will start with a fleet of 23 cars available throughout the Plateau in a project that will run until the end of October.

Communauto President Benoit Robert says the idea is to offer a more flexible car sharing service for short-term rentals.

"It's very spontaneous; it's like the Bixi. You don't have to plan in advance so it means that if you do something and suddenly you need a car and you see a car beside you, you can just check that car is available and then yes, you can leave with it," said Robert.

Robert says the project will start in the Plateau and if successful, will expand to other areas in the city.

The borough's mayor, Luc Ferrandez, says the Plateau is a perfect testing ground for an expanded car-sharing programs because he is always looking for a way to expand environmentally-friendly transportation.

"Basically it's a car that you don't have to put gas in and you don't have to pay for parking. We gave a special permission for these cars to park anywhere in any permit zone," said Ferrandez.