Bart Bakker rubs his hands together gleefully as he admires his new car. People ask him “How does it drive?” Now, the people of Ottawa can find out for themselves. Sitting in Bakker’s driveway is a brand new Model S Tesla. With this new car, Bakker has launched Ottawa’s first Tesla limo service.
Bakker, chief energy officer of TeV1 Ottawa, says he’s excited about being able to share his new business with the people of Ottawa. TeV1 Ottawa – T for Tesla, eV for electric vehicle, 1 for being the first Tesla in Ottawa for a business – gets customers “from place A to place B” in a luxury vehicle that is also environmentally friendly.
The Tesla Models are entirely electric and release zero emissions. The car was initially launched in 2012 by Tesla Motors.
Bakker says he has had numerous requests from people wanting to be driven to nice restaurants.
“If you drive there [yourself] you have to park the car, then you can’t have a drink because you’re driving. ”
Bakker says he was initially inspired to purchase the Tesla because of how he felt every time he refuelled his Kia at the gas station.
It prompted him to ask himselfhow he could leave the world a better place than he found it.
“I think it’s a brilliant way to share with others, as Nikola Tesla was always about sharing,” he says.
“My brothers were always laughing, but my mom said, “Bart, you wanted to become a bus driver because you wanted to show your family and friends the most beautiful parts of the world.”
This is something that Bakker says he carries with him and hopes to inject into his business.
Barrie Kirk, co-founder and executive director of Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence, says that its design is the reason Tesla has triumphed over other electric cars.
“It’s a well-designed car, it’s a performance car, it’s a high-end car. It’s the whole package.”
With advances in battery-powered technology improving every year, Kirk says that he thinks the age of the electric car is coming very quickly.
Bakker has had the Tesla for just under a month, and is already using it 16 hours a day.
With one Tesla and a team of three working with him, Bakker hopes to expand over the coming months and years. His goal is to acquire six more vehicles next year and eventually operate with 50 vehicles within the next five years.