Atanassov, A. (2015). Studying the possibility of switching to electric taxis in Vienna for a small taxi company with five cars from technological, economic and environmental points of view [Master Thesis, Technische Universität Wien]. reposiTUm. https://doi.org/10.34726/hss.2015.33733
My job as a taxi driver in Vienna is the main motivation for choosing this topic for the master thesis. Working for a small taxi company with 5 taxis made me curious to study the possibility of switching to electric cars from technological, economic and environmental point of view. In the last few years the number of hybrid taxis in Vienna has significantly increased and they are quite well accepted by the customers. Today with the new improved technologies and batteries the electric cars used as taxis in the cities are more and more in discussion. There are a lot of projects regarding the use of electric vehicles in the taxi industry. Vienna is not an exception either. Some electric taxis already run on the streets of Vienna. The core objective of this work is to analyze the possibility of switching to electric taxis for a small taxi company in Vienna with 5 cars. The analyzes will include technological overview, ecological evaluation - lifecycle assessment, economic calculations and also taxi drivers interviews for their readiness to switch to electric cars and information about their driving behavior. This work should show the possibility to switch to electric vehicles and the advantages for all the parties - taxi companies, drivers, customers and not least environment. As transport is one of the major air pollutants, switching to electric taxis could contribute to CO2-emissions reduction and meeting the EU targets regarding GHG emissions.