The preliminary project ‚ZENEM’ and the feasibility study ‚eTaxi Vienna’ showed that electric taxis - especially in combination with renewable energy sources - provide a significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions and that the e-cars can be operated in an economically viable way. In that context, so far open legal, organizational, technical and economic questions were clarified in close coordination with the relevant actors for a possible implementation:
- Within the service area, purely electrically powered vehicles have to be used to achieve further knowledge in the field of electric mobility and to achieve significant, positive environmental effects.
- The market acceptance of the mobility service eTaxi needs to be encouraged by the simplicity of the product, through a clear, high-quality usability and the good communicability.
- The close collaboration with the City of Vienna ensures that ‘E-Taxi for Vienna’ is embedded in the City’s long-term urban- and mobility development policies from scratch. This applies in particular to the legal framework in which on the one hand the taxi industry in Vienna and on the other hand charging infrastructure in the city, especially in public space, is regulated.
- In the context of concept development, from the beginning, particular emphasis was placed on the development of long term viable business models in order to achieve economic viability for all players, both taxi companies and charging point operators.
eTaxis have been operating in Vienna since March 2016, benefiting from special conditions and subsidies. The eTaxis are operated partly for the radio taxi centers Taxi 40100 and Taxi 31300 or myTaxi as well as for some individual taxi companies. Wiener Stadtwerke and its subsidiaries have created the necessary infrastructure for operation.
The charging stations including reservation for the drivers are in operation and are used intensively. With the collected knowledge, the operation was constantly improved and the number of eTaxis increased steadily.
The project also examined the direct, positive environmental effects, the integration into the overall traffic system of a city and the visibility for the population - because for many people, taxi can be the first contact with electric mobility. The project ,eTaxi for Vienna’ ended in June 2018 after a total of four years.