CLEANER AND GREENER: London taxi representatives welcome news of extended electric taxi range

The Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA) has welcomed news of the new extended batteries that power LEVC's TX electric taxis making them even cleaner and greener.

Steve McNamara, General Secretary of LTDA, said that whilst the small improvement might not make a big difference for taxi drivers on a day-to-day basis, it remains a positive step in continuing to combat any criticism that the vehicle is not a pure electric vehicle.

The taxi representative quoted that the electric-only range for the new TX taxi is now 78 miles, up from 64 miles, and the CO2 emissions of the vehicle are just 14g/km, compared to the over 200g/km produced by the last of the diesel TX4s.

Since its launch, the new TX electric taxi has been successful globally, and more than 8,500 of the new taxis have been sold. The LTDA believe that the new batteries powering the taxis will make a significant contribution to the overall greening of London's commercial fleet of taxis, helping to achieve environmental targets sooner.

Steve McNamara, General Secretary of Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association (LTDA), said in TAXI Newspaper: “Many will have seen or heard that LEVC has changed the battery for new TXs. This new battery means that new cabs will now be even cleaner and greener. It is also more efficient and so slightly increases the range of the vehicle. This won’t make a huge difference for taxi drivers day-to-day, but it is positive. It also helps combat any criticism we get about the fact that the vehicle is a range extended EV (REEV) and not a pure EV (those determined to, will always find a way to put us down, whatever we do)!

“From now on in meetings, I will be quoting the new stats on the cab to demonstrate just how green our green credentials are, particularly to anyone in power I’m trying to convince to give us proper road access or asking to support us. The stats are that the new 34.6 kWh battery (up from 31kWh) results in CO2 emissions of just 14g/km, as a comparison the last of the diesel TX4s had figures that were way over 200g/km.

“Meanwhile, the electric only range for TX is now 78 miles (up from 64). Since launch, more than 8,500 TXs have been sold globally (7,262 of them in London) with the vehicles travelling more than 569 million miles and preventing 173,000 tonnes of CO2 being emitted into the atmosphere. Pretty impressive if you ask me.”