Transfer company Cool Bus have confirmed that they are updating their fleet of electric vehicles
After six successful years using Tesla Model X’s for transfers to ski resorts in the Tarentaise valley the vehicles have clocked up nearly 600,000km of zero emission transport.
New Mercedes Electric Minibuses
This winter the cars will be supplemented by three Mercedes EQV’s – the market leading model for electric minibuses.
“The EV market has been slow to develop suitable vehicles for our needs,” said Rob Forbes, founder of Cool Bus. “To effectively operate transfers, we need eight passenger seats, plus luggage space and a minimum 100 KWh battery.”
“The EQV is about as close as we can get right now but we are confident we will see options available from other manufacturers over the next two years,” said Forbes.
More electric chargers in the Alps
Cool Bus is also remodelling the carpark at their in Bourg St. Maurice, where they are installing eight charging stations with a new dedicated electricity supply.
This will provide the company with enough infrastructure to cover this winter’s requirements. They also have further EV purchases planned for 2023 and 2024.
The French car charging infrastructure continues to expand rapidly. Just last month a second Tesla Supercharging station with 20 stalls opened close to Geneva and is also open to other brands of EV.
There is a new Tesla station planned in Albertville for this autumn and Ionity – the main alternative provider of rapid chargers – are expanding the number of local high-speed chargers at service stations throughout Savoie and Haute Savoie.
Cool Bus signed up to the ‘Protect Our Winters’ pledge in 2020 and aims to be carbon neutral by 2025.
You can listen to founder Rob Forbes talking about their sustainability goals in this special episode of The Ski Podcast, recorded in December 2020
