C40 Good Practice Guides: Amsterdam - Battery Sizing

Summary

Fleet vehicles operating at airports provide an ideal option for battery alterations that can reduce the overall price of LEVs. With this in mind, Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has electrified its fleet with reduced battery sizes to account for the limited travel required of the vehicles.

Results

At the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, 8,000 vehicles make up the airport fleet, with typical fixed routes being less than 4 kilometres per day for these vehicles. This entire fleet has been electrified in a very short time, and Schiphol Airport was certified carbon neutral in 2014 by the Airport Carbon Accreditation group, largely due to the Airport’s carbon reduction plan and the emphasis it placed on road transportation.^xv

Reasons for success

With short rides at low speeds, it was more economical to electrify the airport fleet to reduce maintenance costs and increase emissions performance.

When/why a city might adopt an approach like this

Fleet vehicles operating at airports are a good example of fixed route vehicles where battery alterations can help reduce the overall price of LEVs and increase uptake. Cities that can identify such niche markets can look towards Amsterdam’s electrification of Schiphol vehicles as a strong model for rapid uptake of LEVs. 

C40 Good Practice Guides

C40's Good Practice Guides offer mayors and urban policymakers roadmaps for tackling climate change, reducing climate risk and encouraging sustainable urban development. With 100 case studies taken from cities of every size, geography and stage of development around the world, the Good Practice Guides provide tangible examples of climate solutions that other cities can learn from. 

The Low Emission Vehicles Good Practice Guide is available for download here.  The full collection of C40 Good Practice Guides is available for download here.  

All references can be found in the full guide.