“Today marked the one-millionth taxi ride to leave the Schiphol taxi stand in 2018. Of these journeys, around 70% were driven in a Tesla: electric and no emissions. As a celebration, we treated the passengers who went on the one-millionth ride, as well as all of the taxi drivers.” Tweeted Schiphol Airport today.
Over the last few years, Amsterdam Schiphol airport’s vision on sustainability has accelerated the roll out of electric mobility. This transition allows travelers to enjoy the comforts of driving 100% electric without polluting the environment. Using renewable energy to charge, the Schiphol taxi rides are completely emission free.
Since 2014 the Amsterdam Schiphol airport has had a 167 vehicle fleet of Tesla Model S taxis. BIOS-groep, one of the larger taxi companies operating at the airport, went all-electric with a fleet of Tesla Model S then. Up to now, the the Electric vehicles have saved more than 2,500 tons of CO2 per year. In order to have the fleet fully charged for the day, BIOS-groep in collaboration with Tesla, installed their own on-site AC charging solution. Now after four years of successful customer and driver satisfaction, BIOS-groep decided in early 2018, to replace their entire fleet of Model S with Model X.
In addition to the newer vehicles, the decision fell due to the possibility to seat up to 6 passengers including luggage in the Model X, coupled with the high re-sale value of the Model S. The Tesla taxis have driven 250,000 km to 300,000 km on average since taking up operation.
In cooperation with Tesla, a new charging infrastructure was set up at the Shiphol airport, which is separate from the public supercharger network. The taxi drivers from the BIOS-groep charge their vehicles overnight or during waiting times at AC chargers in their own depots. There is also a DC fast charging station with a capacity up to 60 kW available on top of the regular structures.
