British Firm Sees Electric Taxis in New York's Future

Is there an electric taxi in New York City's future?

The city that never sleeps is aggressively pursuing ways to cut its huge taxi fleet's carbon footprint, with hybrids and some diesel models imported for Europe playing a major role in the effort.

But Smith Electric Vehicles, a British manufacturer of battery-electric delivery trucks and electric drivetrains,  has just signed a pact to convert some taxis to electric drive.

They'd be the first E-taxis ever.

Our contact at Smith says the company "absolutely" will be talking to New York City offiicials about trying the electric taxis over here.

Under its deal with  LTI Vehicles Ltd , manufacturer of a diesel cab widely used in London, Smith would convert an undisclosed numer to battery-electric propulsion systems to give LTI, and London, the world's first  zero emission urban taxi cabs.

Initial specifications call for the E-taxis, based on LTI's TX4 model (right)  to deliver  top speed of 50 miles an hour with a range of 100 miles or more on a single charge of the lithium-ion phosphate battery pack. LTI would market the taxis throughout the U.K. via its existing dealer network.

Smith sees the deal as making it top dog in a potentially explosive global market for electric taxis to serve intra-city markets.

As for the New York market? "They already use the diesel" version of the LTI cab, said Smith spokesman Dan Jenkins, so Smith "absolutely" will be trying to sell the city taxi commission on the new electric taxicabs, which it sees as ideal for short-trip business in the city center.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor

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John O'Dell May 29, 2008, 11:13 AM

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Emissions, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric