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Electric Airport Transfers in the French Alps

Cool Bus established itself in Bourg St. Maurice in 2002, not long after budget flights to the French Alps became a thing, and do it yourself ski trips with independent chalet companies started to overtake traditional package holidays. Over the course of the following 15 years our business grew from 1 owner/driver in a rusty old Mercedes 508, to 25 shiny new Volkswagen Caravelles driven by a team of 35 drivers, clocking up 1 million kms a year.

In 2016 we took a plunge into the newly emerging, electric car market, and purchased a Tesla Model X, the first in our area to do so. That winter we racked up 40,000 electric km, and in the process, won the 2017 Travel Innovation category at the Daily Telegraph World Snow Awards. The following winter we ran two Model X’s and clocked 80,000 electric kms. It 2019 we had three. Then the pandemic hit.

The previous 18 years of hard work meant we had the assets to keep us liquid through what turned out to be nearly two full years of close to zero activity, but we came out the other side considerably leaner. Like many, the pandemic gave us time to reflect and analyse where we’d come from and were headed to, what was working and what wasn’t. The result was, we found our sweet spot, enough vehicles and staff to allow us to cope with volume, but small enough to ensure the level of service we provide is the best it can be and that we can take our business where we think it needs to go.

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For 2023/24 we have 14 vehicles on the road – 3 Tesla Model X, 5 Mercedes electric EQV minibuses and 6 VW Caravelles (read more on our fleet here). The electric share of this winter’s kilometres should exceed 60%, this means if you book with us you are more likely to travel in an electric vehicle than a diesel. If that makes you nervous, read our EVFAQ here to find out why it shouldn’t.

To date our electric fleet has driven 750,000 km saving 60,000 litres of diesel and 200 tons of CO2. We expect that figure to hit 1 million km by next spring. Ultimately, the goal is to be fully carbon neutral in 2025, an objective we ratified by signing up to the Protect Our Winters UK pledge in 2019.

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Red Tape: Escape From Russia

The man from the Russian Bureau of Internal Affairs flicked through a few pages, looked at me and then closely back at the passport. He tapped away at the keyboard on his desk and checked my documents once more. His office looked exactly as you might expect, given he was stationed at the only border crossing between Russia and Georgia, Verkhnii Lars, on the Georgian Military Highway. Partway up the Jvari pass, which is the only way to cross the Caucasus mountains into Georgia, the area was cold and bleak, with snow piled up at the side of the road. The drafty office was furnished in 1970’s Soviet style - sparse and long overdue a lick of paint. He fixed me with a blank stare, across the tatty wooden desk. “You enter Russia yesterday and then leave again today. This…

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