(31 Jul 2019) LEAD IN: A tenth of London's famous black taxis are now electrified, following the launch of a new battery-powered taxicab by Geely-owned LEVC last year.
But drivers claim there's still a lack of infrastructure to support the new vehicles, particularly charging points across the capital.
STORY-LINE:
Peter Powell has driven black taxis on London's streets for over 23 years.
He's now one of over 2,000 London taxi drivers to have switched their traditional diesel cab for a more environmentally friendly alternative.
The TX taxi by London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC), a brand owned by China-based Geely, which also owns Volvo Cars, was launched in January last year.
Its battery-powered engine can run for to up to 80 miles/129 kilometres in full-electric mode.
It's also fitted with a small, petrol range extender that allows it to go up to 370 miles/595 kilometres.
"The old diesel cabs, they served the trade quite well, but very antiquated, unreliable, uncomfortable, extremely expensive to run. So hot inside, it's unbelievable," says Powell.
"You can actually near enough taste the fumes some days. This is the complete opposite."
But Powell says he often struggles to find a free charging point across the capital. He usually charges his vehicle at home and uses its petrol range extender if needs be.
"When you don't find a charger, you can't get on them. There's taxis waiting, there's other normal vehicles waiting," says Powell.
LEVC announced Wednesday (31 July) it had produced its 2,500th TX taxicab at its plant in Coventry.
According to Transport for London (TFL) data, there were around 21,000 black taxi cabs on the British capital's streets last year.
That means the TX makes up around ten percent of that. Not all 2,500 TX taxis are being driven in London. It's operating in over 20 cities across the UK.
"What we see at the moment, we see an increased momentum and we believe sales will speed up quite significantly, very soon even," says Joerg Hoffman, the CEO of LEVC.
LEVC claims the 2,500 new taxis have prevented about 6,800 tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
They've also reduced NOx (nitrogen oxides) emissions, a major contributor to poor air quality, by 99.5 percent in comparison to the previous diesel taxi.
"Taxi emissions contribute about 30 percent of NOx pollution in London," says Shirley Rodrigues, deputy London mayor for Environment and Energy.
"So, very significant. And that's because we've been increasingly cleaning up London's bus fleet and cleaning up London's vehicle fleets of vans, coaches, lorries and so on. So, we have to tackle taxis as well as everything else."
According to estimates by the Mayor of London's office, the number of electric vehicles on the city's streets could grow from around 20,000 currently to over 330,000 by 2025.
That would require around 50,000 charge points.
The mayor's office says London currently hosts 2,400 public chargers across the capital, 25 percent of all the UK's electric vehicle charge points.
"So, we created the biggest network, bigger than New York and Paris, of rapid charges, standard charges and residential charges," says Rodrigues.
"So, we have over 185 charges, rapids, on the street now. Half of those, roughly half, are about dedicated to taxis alone as well as lamp posts charges, over a thousand, two thousand if you count the private sector ones as well. So, there's a very big network, lots of capacity."
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