London cab Co reveals electric future

The London Electric Vehicle Company, formerly the London Taxi Company, has revealed its final version of its new hybrid-electric black cab.

The TX electric taxi has been unveiled in London, comprising a battery electric powertrain with small petrol generator which offers cab operators a 640-kilometre range, with approximately 110km of emission free mobility.

It’s estimated cabbies will save roughly one hundred pounds (AU$167 or NZ$177) per week in fuel costs with no separate battery leasing.

LEVC, designing the vehicles in partnership with Volvo, has also announced its first major international orders to the Netherlands for 225 vehicles as part of the company’s plans to become a mainstay commercial electric vehicle provider. Orders officially commence on August 1 with the company’s key strategy to focus on international branding, with Dutch vehicles expected to be imported in 2018 by the Rotterdam Mobility Centre (RMC), an organisation providing general mobility services and door-to-door transport for the elderly and disabled.

LEVC’s TX cabs will launch officially later in the year as quality and testing regimes continue in Arizona for extreme heat tests, and the arctic circle.

Chief executive officer of LEVC, Chris Gubbey, says it’s a big moment for electrified transport and a new era for Britain’s beloved, iconic black cab.

“It’s an incredibly exciting day for the company, for the world’s cities, for the air we breathe and for the drivers of commercial vehicles,” Gubbey says.

“Drawing on the best of British design and engineering as well as technical expertise from sister company Volvo, our products will help provide taxi drivers with an average weekly saving of 100 pounds compared with our outgoing diesel model,” he adds.

LEVC will begin making purchasing propositions for registered interests made through the company’s website.

The new-age but old-school designed black cabs will feature 90-degree opening rear-hinged passenger doors influenced by 1930s luxury cars (aka suicide doors). The TX has been designed to keep the same traditional aesthetics of the iconic TX4 “hackney carriage” built by the London Taxi Co, and formerly LTI Vehicles company, before the company’s rebranding under Chinese-owned Geely which took over in 2012.

A fleet of hydrogen fuel cell cabs has also been in operation since the 2012 London Olympics.