First Tesla Taxi/Limousine Service In Australia Launched In Sydney

Originally published on RenewEconomy.

One story that caught our attention last year was the decision by Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport to deploy a fleet of 167 Tesla Model S electric vehicles for taxi services to and from the facility.

Now, a similar initiative has been launched in Australia, albeit with a more modest start, by some enterprising clean energy entrepreneurs.

Evoke has deployed its first Tesla Model S to compete with corporate and petrol-based hire car services, offering taxi and limousine services in Sydney, including to and from the airport at similar rates, but zero emissions. It is the first zero-emissions luxury chauffeur service in Australia which exclusively uses the Tesla Model S.

The brainchild of Mathew and Pia Peterson, the service has one operating Tesla Model S, with another due to start in a few weeks, and more on order. After a “test” phase of around 200 trips since May, the service was officially launched this week.

“With the Model S arriving in Australia late last year, I realised that there was a great opportunity to move towards sustainable hire car transportation, providing customers with a zero emissions journey in comfort and luxury,” Pia says.

“Electric cars also have the added advantage of no tailpipe emissions and they are virtually noiseless, meaning as a company, Evoke are contributing to making Sydney a better place to live.

“We have also found that with Model S, we are proving to people the viability of electric vehicles as there are a number of people that believe it’s an ordinary car until they travel with us and walk away wowed by the experience.”

The Petersons say the service will be based in Sydney for the moment, but will look to expand in other cities. The target market is corporate types, the IT industry, weddings, and people who are just curious about fully electric vehicles.

“Corporates that travel with Evoke will be paying a similar price to other chauffeur companies, but can walk away knowing that they’re being socially responsible by travelling with a zero emissions chauffeur service, which benefits the wider community,” Pia says.

And they get the opportunity for free Wi-Fi on board, or the chance to use the in-vehicle iPad to surf the web or the car’s Spotify app to DJ their journey.

Image: Tesla taxi in Amsterdam by Zachary Shahan | EV Obsession | CleanTechnica

Reprinted with permission.