Quebec Gets Its First Ever "Tesla Model S" Taxi
Photo cred - @teslataxi
Electric taxis are definitely the way of the future. Montreal already has plans to launch a fleet of electrically-powered cabs, though that's not for a few years. Hoping to make more money, while also helping the environment, one cabbie in Quebec decided to take the initiative and be well ahead of the curve, becoming the first North American taxi driver to drive an electric cab, reports TVA.
Christian Roy, after reading about electric taxi driver Trond Gustav Sømme from Norway, decided to also make the switch to a Tesla electric taxi. Despite some initial funding issues (the car costed $97, 000), Roy eventually got the money together, with some help from Fin Taxi, and has since reaped all the monetary benefits of his new electric ride.
With the high price of gas, taxi drivers spend a lot of money on fueling their cars, though Roy doesn't have to worry too much about that anymore. According to Roy, his Tesla car only costs him 3 cents per kilometer, and as he charges $2/km, the profit margin is quite extradorinary, and hard to ignore.
The only issue Roy has encountered is the limited amount of charging stations available for his Tesla car. Only a few exist in the Roy's area, though he believes that once Tesla cars become more widespread (a dealership is planned for Montreal in 2015) a lot more charging stations will pop up.
Driving an electric taxi looks to be a win-win for the drivesr and the environment, with the former saving/making a lot more money and the latter being saved from all 'dem toxic fumes cars normally spout. Even if cabbies aren't too concerned with Mother Nature's well-being, the money the stand to make by switching to Tesla seems too good to pass up, so hopefully we'll see more electric cabs on the road sooner rather than later.
