All-electric taxi fleet set for London

A fleet of all-electric taxis is coming to London next spring – and if the trial is successful, it could be rolled out to other regions in the UK too.

Chinese firm BYD has today signed a Memorandum of Understanding to create the all-EV taxi fleet, in association with London’s second-largest minicab service, greentomatocars.

London black cab maker in administration

The history of the black cab

The taxis will be pure electric BYD e6 models, an all-electric crossover model similar in concept to the Nissan Qashqai. Impressively, it has a range of over 185 miles, which should make short-haul city taxi use viable.

Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, is fully behind the scheme. “It is great news that greentomatocars has committed to operating 50 of these super clean machines from next year,” he said.

“It is my aim that London’s minicabs and taxis will be zero-emission by 2020, which will have a major impact on air quality.

“Encouraging many more electric vehicles is a key part of this transformation.”

It’s not the first time greentomatocars has trailed a green taxi blaze, either. Jonny Goldstone, greentomatocars MD, drew parallels between the early days of the ‘then-unfashionable’ Toyota Prius back in 2006 and the BYD e6 of today.

“It’s exciting to think that, even as a 5-car start up, we played a major role in making the Prius popular,” he said.

“Given the scale, experience and high-tech infrastructure we now have at our disposal, we’d love to “do a Prius” with the e6, and help propel electric vehicles into the automotive mainstream – where they deserve and, for all our sakes, need to be.”

The announcement came as famous London black cab maker Manganese Bronze Holdings went into administration after its Chinese partners Geely declined to bail it out.

The London black cab averages 35mpg and emits more than 200g/km CO2. The BYD e6, of course, uses no fuel and emits zero CO2…

Is this the future of the London taxi?