Dantaxi & E.ON Launch Charging Hub For 400 Electric Taxis In Copenhagen
A taxi company in Denmark, Dantaxi, is partnering with E.ON, the largest charging operator in Denmark, to open the largest taxi charging hub in the Nordics. “Danhub — Powered by E.ON” will allow up to 400 taxis to charge daily. This covers a large share of the current need in Copenhagen.
Dantaxi’s commercial director, Vibeke Wolfsberg, has high hopes for the partnership with E.ON, a partnership that she believes will benefit the city’s inhabitants in multiple ways. “From May 11 onwards, it will be easier to hail a fully charged electric taxi in Copenhagen. Most of the city’s current approximately 300 electric taxis are a part of Dantaxi, and for the drivers, the problem of finding an available charging station has grown so big that the capacity of the in-demand zero-emission vehicles cannot be fully utilized,” she said.
“We have wasted too much time chasing available electricity. Our taxis often drive around for too long without being able to find an available charging station. This affects the customers and also the owners of private electric cars who find that the electric taxis take up too many public charging stations. The partnership will benefit the people of Copenhagen, the local community, and the taxi drivers.”
The Last Diesel Taxi in 2025
Wolfsberg estimated that the new Danhub concept will create a boost in the number of electric taxis in Copenhagen and expects that Dantaxi will retire its last diesel car in Copenhagen as early as 2025.
“After the change in legislation and, of course, the Corona crisis, many taxi owners are looking to change cars. An electric taxi brings more business and lower operating costs, but many have been hesitant because of the lack of charging stations. We estimate that this initiative will result in 200 new electric taxis on the streets of Copenhagen before the summer of 2022, and the number of diesel taxis will decrease accordingly. In our company, diesel taxis may disappear completely in four years,” she said.
Electrifying a taxi is at least 8 times better for the environment than electrifying a normal consumer car, it was pointed out. Pär Möller, Head of eMobility Nordic, E.ON, noted: “A taxi drives approximately eight times as much as a private car — about 20 hours a day. That is why the environmental benefit is eight times greater when taxis switch to electricity. This is, of course, the most important thing. A great additional benefit is that we help fight air pollution in the cities when we make our transportation run on electricity.”
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Ultra-Fast Charging Technology Is Critical
Möller touched upon the state of the art technology that E.ON is providing for charging these 400 electric taxis. “The electric taxis get access to the latest charging technology. The five ultra-fast chargers can charge up to ten taxis at a time. The ultra-fast chargers deliver the absolute fastest charging on the market, making them particularly important for taxis, as they are not stationary for long periods of time, unlike private cars. Ultra-fast chargers can charge up to 300 kW, and this means that all-electric cars would be able to charge at the maximum power that the car’s battery is made for.”
The total capacity Danhub will support is 400 electric taxi cabs daily. This covers a significant part of Dantaxi’s current need in Denmark’s capital city. The Minister of Transport, Benny Engelbrecht, opened the new facility on May 11 at 4:00 PM. The facility is located in Copenhagen’s southwest quarter at Bådehavnsgade 42, which was selected due to its proximity to the Copenhagen Airport and the city center. Currently, only taxis from Dantaxi are able to use Danhub. The two companies plan to establish further charging facilities in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Aalborg, and Odense if the project is successful.
In a post on its Facebook page, Dantaxi shared a photo of Transport Minister Benny Engelbrecht, who charged the first electric taxi on one of the 10 lightning chargers. The company also shared a statement from Wolfsberg in the post. “We have spent way too much waste time chasing vacant power. Our carts often circulate around a long time to find a charging option. It goes beyond customers, but also the private electric car owners who think that electricity taxis are filling equally well at the public charging stations. The partnership will benefit the Copenhagen, local community, and taxi drivers.”
The company also shared several event images in a comment thread in their Facebook post — you can view those here.
All photos courtesy of Dantaxi.
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