Vienna funds eTaxis with seven million euros

Stadtrat Peter Hanke und WK Wien Präsident Walter Ruck mit dem eTaxi Austria

The City of Vienna and the Vienna Chamber of Commerce are launching a new joint funding programme for the electrification of the e-taxi fleet next year.

The City of Vienna and the Vienna Chamber of Commerce are jointly promoting environmentally friendly forms of mobility. An important component in Vienna’s mobility mix is the so-called passenger transport with motor vehicles, i.e. taxis. From 2025, only vehicles with CO2-free drives will be registered as Viennese taxis. The City of Vienna and the Vienna Chamber of Commerce are supporting this transformation with a new funding scheme. The new e-taxi subsidy will be decided in the December committees and can be applied for from 1.1.2023. In total, the City of Vienna will provide seven million euros for this purpose, thus initiating an important goal of the Progressive Coalition. WK Wien will handle the funding.

“Vienna is a city of short distances and taxis are an important complement to public transport. Since we are also concerned with the issue of climate protection in the city and above all motorised transport is one of the biggest CO2 polluters in Vienna, we are implementing an important measure to support the switch to environmentally friendly e-mobility with the new e-taxi funding totalling 7 million euros. With this funding programme, the City of Vienna shows that we recognise the challenges in the field of mobility, provide incentives and also offer economic support for companies,”

says Peter Hanke, City Councillor for Economic Affairs.

Effective and targeted

“Taxis are an indispensable part of passenger transport in our city and are indispensable for many people. At the same time, it is important to significantly reduce emissions here as well. However, the conversion of Vienna’s taxi fleet to electric operation is a major challenge for many companies. With the new e-taxi funding, we are supporting businesses in this very effectively and in a targeted manner,”

says Walter Ruck, President of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce.

“With the greening measure that only new licences for e-taxis will be issued from 2025 onwards, we are taking a further step towards a climate-neutral Vienna 2040. With the e-taxi funding and the recently decided 90 percent reduction of parking fees for e-car sharing providers, we are once again proving that mobility and environmental protection can very well go hand in hand,”

says NEOS Vienna economic spokesman Markus Ornig.

Driving performance is promoted
The new e-taxi funding supports the driving performance and not the purchase of the vehicles to ensure that the e-taxis are also used and CO2 emissions are thus reduced. Vienna continues to focus primarily on the environmentally friendly mobility mix including public transport, cycling and walking. The subsidy amounts to five euros for each hour of operation of an e-taxi with passengers. The funding amount is capped at 10,000 euros per e-taxi. Up to 15 e-taxis per company are eligible for funding. This is intended to ensure that upcoming new investments in the vehicle fleet flow into locally sustainable e-mobility before 2025.

Innovative technology for the taxi industry
At the heart of the “e-Taxi Austria” project is the charging infrastructure: instead of plugging the e-car into the charging point with a cable, the vehicle, equipped with a so-called connector on the underbody, is connected to a charging plate at the taxi rank at the push of a button. With this automated charging directly at the taxi stands, the e-taxis are automatically charged without having to leave the vehicle or visit an e-charging station. This will equip eight taxi ranks and 50 vehicles in Vienna. If a company participates in the “eTaxi Austria” project, the subsidy increases to six euros per e-operating hour and a maximum subsidy of 12,000 euros per e-taxi.

Apply from 1 January 2023
The new e-taxi subsidy can be applied for from 1 January 2023 via the website of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce at the following link:

www.wko.at/wien/etaxi

The details and exact funding conditions will be available there from 23 December.