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.
For 2025/26 we have 10 vehicles on the road – 2 Tesla Model X, 6 Mercedes electric EQV minibuses and 2 VW Caravelles (read more on our fleet here). The electric share of this winter’s kilometres should exceed 80%, 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.
On the 1st April 2024 we hit the landmark of 1 million electric km saving 80,000 litres of diesel and over 200 tons of CO2. Our electric km for the 2024/25 season exceeded 275,000. Ultimately, the goal is to be fully carbon neutral, an objective we ratified by signing up to the Protect Our Winters UK pledge in 2019.
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Who Where Why – 25 Years Of Cool Bus
In my late teens I was a big fan of nineties alternative band, Jesus Jones. Their unique sound blended rock guitars, synths, samples and front man, Mike Edwards’ husky vocals. I still have the original vinyl pressings of their first two albums on a shelf in the Cool Bus ‘Boffice’. 1989’s ‘Liquidiser’ was a low key success which included the excellent single, ‘Info Freako’, but it was the follow up, ‘Doubt’, which really put them on the map. Singles such as ‘Real, Real, Real’, ‘International Bright Young Thing’ and ‘Who Where Why’ brought worldwide success including a sell out US tour and landing them Best New Artist at the MTV awards. In my forties I was a big fan of the TV gameshow, Pointless. The one hour time difference in France meant the show aired just after 6pm which happened…
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