Mayor of London confident that taxi manufacturers LEVC are ‘looking to the future’ with a new fully electric black cab
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has expressed confidence that taxi manufacturer LEVC is preparing for the future with a shift towards fully electric taxis.
This comes after questions were raised by Hina Bokhari, a member of the London Assembly, regarding the availability of fully electric taxi options in the capital.
Bokhari asked whether Khan would like to see more fully electric taxis on London’s roads and if he accepted that the limited vehicle options currently available mean most of the city’s taxi fleet will remain hybrids rather than fully electric for the foreseeable future.
In response, the Mayor reaffirmed his commitment to reducing emissions in line with his goal of achieving a zero-carbon London by 2030. He noted the progress already made, with 59% of the city’s taxi fleet now zero-emission capable, although just 186 are fully electric. He acknowledged that the liquidation of a company responsible for converting Nissan vehicles to fully electric taxis in 2022 had impacted the uptake of these vehicles.
Khan emphasised that LEVC, which has been producing zero-emission capable taxis since 2018, is likely to lead the charge towards fully electric taxis. He expressed no doubt that the company is focusing on future advancements in line with the city’s environmental targets.
With London’s taxi fleet at the forefront of the transition to greener vehicles, attention now shifts to when fully electric options will become more widely available to drivers and passengers alike.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: “As set out in my vision for zero carbon London by 2030, the science is clear that without urgent action, the world is on track for catastrophic temperature increases. We must rapidly reduce emissions to limit the worst effects of the climate emergency.
“The taxi trade has been at the forefront of the transition to cleaner, greener vehicles and I am extremely proud that 59 per cent of London’s taxi fleet is now zero emission capable and, of these, 186 are pure electric. This is because the company that converted Nissan vehicles to pure electric taxis went into liquidation in late 2022.
“Taxis are currently produced by a motor manufacturer, London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC). These vehicles, that have been available since 2018, are currently ZEC but I have no doubt LEVC is looking to the future and a transition to fully electric taxis.”
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