Are you one of the more than 1 million travellers who park their car at P3 Long Term every year? And have you recently caught the bus from there to the terminal? Then you've probably already noticed. It’s no longer a small diesel bus, but a comfortable and spacious electric bus.
With the arrival of electric buses at P3, we are taking another important step in further reducing emissions produced by the Schiphol fleet. If you are now thinking: ‘What do you mean, an important step? I’m only on the bus for 5 minutes? That can't make that much difference, such a short distance?’ Then think again! Because these buses travel many more kilometres each year than you may presume.
Here are some numbers. Depending on how busy it is, the P3-terminal-P3 circuit is driven by 3 or 4 buses. That means a bus every 7.5 or 5 minutes. Buses run 24 hours a day and the circuit is about 7 km. Long story short: the buses covered 738,733 km driving this route in 2024. That’s more than 18 times around the Earth! All those kilometres are now being driven electrically rather than using HVO100 synthetic diesel. And we believe that to be an important step.
You can see it from the air – the roof of the P3 car park is covered with solar panels. 6,000 of them! The solar energy that the panels generate goes directly to two charging points for electric buses. When you drive into P3, you’ll see them on the left. And there’s a back-up charger on the right. Occasionally travellers try to charge their car there, but it only works with the P3 buses. Do you want a full battery when you come back? The P6 valet car park with charging service is the best option.
P3's solar energy doesn't just go to the buses. All facilities at P3, from the lighting and payment machines to charging stations and barriers, use it. If there’s insufficient solar energy due to the weather or at night, we switch to wind energy. The P3 buses therefore always drive more sustainably. And if we have too much solar energy, the power goes to a number of other buildings at Schiphol. One example is the McDonalds at the Schiphol Noord spotter location.
The P3 bus is not the first to be replaced by an electric model. The buses that take you from the gate to your plane are all electric. The regional Connexxion buses that take you to and from Schiphol are, at the airport’s request, also electric. And if you take a taxi from the official Schiphol stand just in front of the terminal, you will always get into a more sustainably powered car. This is in line with our ambition to make traffic to, from and at the airport more sustainable step by step.
One more thing. You may not want to think about it, but it could happen to you. Imagine coming back from your well-earned holiday after two weeks and your car won't start. No need to panic! There’s an ANWB (roadside assistance) service point at P3. If you call them, they will be with you in no time.
The electric buses at P3 are a collaboration between Schiphol and Arriva. Schiphol implemented and manages the charging infrastructure, Arriva supplies and manages the buses.