Paris officials savage planned 2024 Olympics air taxi introduction
The planned global introduction of air taxi services next year during the Paris Summer Olympics already risks being grounded, after city authorities from across party lines joined up this week to lavishly dump on what elsewhere in France and the world has been the tech’s much-ballyhooed debut.
National and regional officials in France have been bustling to complete aerial and ground infrastructure preparations in time to roll out the world’s first air taxi operations next summer, when all eyes will already be on the Paris-hosted Summer Olympic Games. But elected officials used municipal meetings this week to vent their long-simmering anger at the push to get next generation aircraft into the city’s skies – and, if possible, keep it from happening altogether.
One of those numerous critics, Dan Lert, derided what has generally been hailed as the sustainable, emissions-free, affordable future of public transportation as “a useless, polluting gadget (to be) reserved for the ultra-privileged.”
And he’s an Ecologist.
Lert, meanwhile, was joined by a large majority of officials from across the political spectrum who spoke at the regularly held Council of Paris meeting to blast away at the Volocopter air taxis scheduled to operate around and over city during and after the Summer Olympics.
The reasons for the shared opposition were diverse. Officials to the left argued that air taxis – which are expected to cost at least €110 ($120) per ride – are being prepared as gifts to rich people wanting to avoid heavy Paris car traffic during the Olympics, and gain a few minutes by using what will be fairly short aerial routes.
Others said the additional noise created by the flights will ruin the steadily eroding quality of life of Parisians, and create safety risk of still developing air taxi tech dropping from what (they continued) were already crowded city skies.
“To save few minutes for a handful of affluent people ignorant and disdaining of the global warming emergency, we’d be polluting the atmosphere, destroying the sonar environment,” warned Socialist Party official Florian Sitbon.
Conservative municipal counsellor Claire de Clermont-Tonnerre also leveled environmental criticism at the plan to operate air taxis both during the Olympics and through the end of 2024 – creating an estimated total of around 1,900 flights.
“The approximately 190 kWH consumption these flying machines consume per 100 kilometers is two to three times higher than an internal combustion engine car transporting a single passenger,” de Clermont-Tonnerre said – possibly disgusted that air taxis aren’t power by the same “clean” nuclear tech most of France is.
She also noted the introduction of air taxis in time for the Olympics follows Paris having only just moved to rid itself of the anarchy-creating rental e-scooters that residents had come to loathe.
“This is a new form (of transportation) we have absolutely no need of… just as we experienced with rental e-scooters,” she urged.
So are Paris air taxis already fini just seven months before they’re scheduled to begin operation?
Perhaps. Yet it’s worth noting a considerable portion of the bombast of Paris officials is rooted in the wider nation’s pronounced disgust of the national leadership. Its litany of aloof and heavy-handed actions includes having joined authorities running the capital’s wider region to force the air taxi plan through, with little real consultation. Politics, therefore, is a big motivator in the current aerial counter-offensive.
In addition to that, meanwhile, opponents are seeking to capitalize on a recent report by the independent Autorité environnementale française that aired serious reserves about air taxi services over central Paris. Detractors are also looking to influence opinions expressed in an ongoing public consultation about introducing the craft, which is set to wrap up December 8.
But given the enormous investment already sunk into the plan – and the windfall of pride and prestige to be had at being the first nation to initiate air taxis – it’s likely France’s government will either negotiate or (per its habit) steamroll its Olympics introduction of services into being, no matter the degree of opposition.
If so, the far more important broader question for the sector will become whether that political force-feeding – along with any potential down-sides created by electric aircraft operation – winds up sufficiently souring Paris and the rest of France on the emerging air taxi option, and thus delaying its veritable adoption for months or even years after the Olympic Games and its hoopla have packed up and gone.
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No matter how badly a fleet wants to electrify their operations and take advantage of reduced fuel costs and TCO, the fact remains that there are substantial up-front obstacles to commercial EV adoption … or are there? We’ve got fleet financing expert Guy O’Brien here to help walk us through it on today’s fiscally responsible episode of Quick Charge!
This conversation was motivated by the recent uncertainty surrounding EVs and EV infrastructure at the Federal level, and how that turmoil is leading some to believe they should wait to electrify. The truth? There’s never been a better time to make the switch!
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Vermont’s EV adoption has surged by an impressive 41% over the past year, with nearly 18,000 EVs now registered statewide.
According to data from Drive Electric Vermont and the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources, 17,939 EVs were registered as of January 2025, increasing by 5,185 vehicles. Notably, over 12% of all new cars registered last year in Vermont had a plug. Additionally, used EVs are gaining popularity, accounting for about 15% of new EV registrations.
To put it in perspective, Vermont took six years to register its first 5,000 EVs – and the last 5,000 were added in just the previous year.
Rapid growth, expanding infrastructure
In just two years, Vermont has doubled its fleet of EVs, underscoring residents’ enthusiasm for electric driving. To support this surge, the state now boasts 459 public EV chargers, including 92 DC fast chargers.
The EV mix in Vermont is leaning increasingly toward BEVs, which represent 60% of the state’s EV fleet. The remaining 40% consists of PHEVs, offering flexible fuel options for drivers.
Top EV models in Vermont
Vermont’s favorite EVs in late 2024 included the Hyundai Ioniq 5, Nissan Ariya, Toyota RAV4 Prime PHEV, Tesla Model Y, and the Ford F-150 Lightning. These vehicles have appealed to Vermont drivers looking for reliability, performance, and practical features that work well in Vermont’s climate.
Leading the US in reducing emissions
This strong adoption of EVs earned Vermont the top ranking from the Natural Resources Defense Council for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in transportation in 2023. “It’s only getting easier for Vermonters to drive electric,” noted Michele Boomhower, Vermont’s Department of Transportation director. She emphasized the growing variety of EV models, including electric trucks and SUVs with essential features like all-wheel drive, crucial for Vermont’s climate and terrain.
Local dealerships boost EV accessibility
Nucar Automall, an auto dealer in St. Albans, is a great example of local support driving this trend. With help from Efficiency Vermont’s EV dealer incentives – receiving $25,000 through the EV Readiness Incentive program – it recently installed 15 EV chargers for new buyers and existing drivers to use.
“Having these chargers on the lot makes it easier for customers to see just how simple charging an EV can be,” said Ryan Ortiz, general manager at Nucar Automall. Ortiz also pointed out the growing affordability of EVs, thanks to more models becoming available and an increase in pre-owned EVs coming off leases.
Read more: Vermont becomes the first US state to pass a law requiring Big Oil to pay for climate damage
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Elon Musk said Tesla’s self-driving will start contributing to the company’s profits… wait for it… “next year” with “millions of Tesla robotaxis in operation during the second half of the year.”
The claim has become a running joke, as he has made it for the last decade.
During Tesla’s conference call following the release of its Q1 2025 financial results, Musk updated shareholders about Tesla’s self-driving plans, which he again presented as critical to the company’s future.
He made a series of claims, mainly updating timelines about Tesla’s self-driving efforts.
Here are the main comments:
- The CEO reiterated that Tesla will launch its paid autonomous ride-sharing service in Austin in June.
- He did clarify that the fleet will consist of Model Y vehicles and not the new Cybercab.
- Musk also confirmed that Tesla is currently training a fleet specifically for Austin.
- As we previously reported, this internal ride-hailing fleet operating in a geo-fenced with teleoperation assist is a big change from Tesla’s approach.
- Musk said “10 to 20 vehicles” on day one.
- Musk said that Tesla’s self-driving will start contributing positively to the company financially in the middle of next year, and “There will be millions of Teslas operating autonomously in the second half of next year.”
- Musk has literally said something similar every year for the past decade and therefore, it’s hard to take him seriously.
- The CEO claimed that Tesla would get “a 90-something percentage market share” in the autonomous market.
- Musk again claimed that no one else is getting close to Tesla’s capacity, and he criticized Waymo for being too expensive.
- Musk is “confident” that the first Model Y will drive itself from the factory to a customer’s home later this year.
- The CEO said that he is confident that Tesla will deliver “unsupervised full self-driving” in consumer vehicles by the end of the year.
Despite Tesla missing earnings expectations by a wide margin, the company’s stock rose 4% in after-hours trading following Musk’s comments, indicating that shareholders still believe Musk’s self-driving predictions, despite his predictions having been incorrect for almost a decade.
Electrek’s Take
The first point I believe will happen. Tesla needs it to happen. It badly needs a win on the self-driving front.
However, as we previously explained, while Tesla will claim a win in June, it will be with a limited geo-fenced and teleoperation-assisted system that won’t scale to customer vehicles, which is what has been promised for years.
Tesla was even asked how it plans to launch this in Austin in June, when FSD in consumer vehicles currently requires frequent interventions from drivers, and Ashok, Tesla’s head of autonomous driving, admitted his team is currently focused on solving the intervention specifically related to driving in Austin.
With training on specific Austin routes and using teleoperations, Tesla can make that happen, but the road between that and unsupervised self-driving in consumer vehicles and “million of Tesla robotaxis” in the second of next year is a long one.
Basically, other than the first point, I believe Tesla will not achieve any of the other on anything close to the timelines announced by Musk today.
I’m willing to take bets on that.
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