Q&A ROY MCMASTER: The new Ford MAXiCab is a ‘purpose built’ taxi for the UK market… including London
TaxiPoint recently caught up with Cab Direct’s Roy McMaster for a Q&A session on the forthcoming new taxi, the Ford MAXiCab. McMaster has worked in taxi manufacturing and retailing roles for over 35 years, at LTI with the Fairway and TX range, Penso with the Vito Taxi, and now at Cab Direct. With such wide-ranging experience, this conversation covered the new MAXiCab and so much more.
Many taxi drivers, especially in London, don’t know much about Cab Direct. Can you tell us a little about the company?
Cab Direct is part of the Allied Vehicles Group. Based in Scotland, Allied has over 800 employees and will produce and sell over 10,000 accessible vehicles, including taxis, in 2024. The Group started in 1993 selling the Metrocab and then making the ground-breaking Peugeot E7. So, the Ford MAXiCab is the logical development of that expertise.
Tell us about the Ford MAXiCab?
The Ford MAXiCab is a partnership between Ford and Cab Direct. Apart from offering the very latest vehicle technology and driver comfort including panoramic roof, there are two reasons why the Ford MAXiCab can make a real contribution to the UK’s purpose-built wheelchair accessible taxi market. First, we will offer 3 powertrains in the same body, a cleaner Euro 6e diesel, a petrol hybrid and a fully electric model. That will enable licensing areas to work with the taxi trade as they migrate to fully zero emission taxis. The second key feature is that Cab Direct has used its position as the UK’s leading accessible vehicle converter to produce the most wheelchair accessible taxi. The MAXiCab will have nearly 20% more internal space for manoeuvring a wheelchair than its equivalent competitor. That also makes MAXiCab great for luggage and airport work.
When is the launch?
By the end of this year we will have achieved full GB Type Approval as a WAV Special Purpose Vehicle. Pilot build starts early in 2025, with full production by end Q1. We’re aiming to sell our purpose-built Ford MAXiCab throughout the UK but especially in the big metropolitan cities.
What makes you say the Ford MAXiCab is purpose-built, surely it’s a conversion?
It’s both. My old boss at LTI used to say that apart from the recognition factor afforded by the front hire sign, there are 3 things that make a purpose-built taxi special. He called it ‘safe, accessible blue skies’. Safety - comes from the central partition making it safe for both driver and passenger. Accessible - is obviously wheelchair accessibility, to at least the DfT specification, but also side-access because that’s so important in major cities. ‘Blue skies’ - is about lowering emissions and the Ford MAXiCab will have a fully zero emission alternative. So far, the Ford MAXiCab is the only purpose-built taxi in the UK to achieve that standard. As for being a conversion, yes, the MAXiCab is converted from the Ford Tourneo Custom, that enables Cab Direct to produce a taxi that takes the benefits of the huge investment that Ford makes and then builds on those purpose-built features. The overall benefit to the taxi driver is high quality but at a lower cost.
Are you going to try and get into London and what about the turning circle requirement?
Yes, the Ford MAXiCab is ideal for London, it’s fully zero-emission and it has the best wheelchair accessibility space. It will also be ideal for other big UK cities like Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool. These cities have road systems like London, yet they gave up the ‘turning circle’ requirement years ago. The challenge for London is supporting the 2010 Equality Act while maintaining the mandatory ‘turning circle’ rule. People with disabilities should have the same access to public transport as everyone else, yet London has over 30% fewer taxis per head of population than the other 4 major cities I mentioned. These cities make it a matter of choice, allowing taxis with and without the ‘turning circle’. Having worked on both sides of the fence I can see the relative merits of both, so why not let it be a matter of choice like they do in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool?
Do you believe taxi drivers deserve support to convert to these zero-emission taxis?
Absolutely. It’s such a big jump to go from a diesel purpose-built cab at £40k over to a zero emission capable cab costing £65-75k. Local authorities are rightly supporting this transition. In London the Government and TfL have put in over £100 million support since 2018 and yet 40% of taxis still have to convert. The concern must be that the Government will want to
move from supporting zero emission capable taxis to supporting fully zero emission taxis. That’s where the Ford MAXiCab scores, will be less expensive and is fully zero emission. That gives drivers a secure future.
