Thanks to an investment of hundreds of millions of euros, by 2018 London's traditional black cabs will become electric. In the Spanish capital, a massive fleet of low-emission taxis makes its debut. Italy brings up the rear.
They cover millions of kilometres every year, enabling a vast number of people to move around cities. Taxis, the most embryonic and fragmented form of public passenger transport, are central players in urban mobility. Traditionally equipped with petrol or diesel engines, in some European capitals they are now being called upon to reduce their environmental impact through the electrification of their drivetrains.
London and Madrid are striding rapidly towards sustainable mobility. Within a couple of years, all "black cabs", as London's traditional taxis are commonly known, will be electric. A revolution in line with the declarations of newly elected mayor Sadiq Khan, who is at war with the most polluting vehicles, having spoken out in favour of an additional charge on top of the Congestion Charge already in force to discourage the use of private vehicles in the key areas of the English capital. The company that manufactures the famous taxis has thus announced an allocation of 356 million euros for the electrification of its fleet. A substantial sum, raised by the Chinese holding company Geely, which owns the London Taxi Company, through so-called "green bonds" — a relatively new financial instrument that ties the issuance of a bond to an investment that is beneficial to the environment.
The new taxis will replace previous generations powered by petrol or diesel. Specifically, they will be the new TX5 electric range with extended range — meaning they are indeed equipped with a combustion engine, but one tasked exclusively with keeping the battery charge level constant. A technical solution similar to that of the Range Extender version of the compact BMW i3, which makes the car a series hybrid rather than a parallel hybrid like most plug-in hybrids — that is, with the electric motor positioned between the combustion engine and the transmission so that the latter is always driven by the electric motor. The debut of the new low-emission taxis is expected by the end of 2017.
While London is preparing to take the first steps along the road to electrifying public transport, Madrid is already well on its way, as Japanese manufacturer Nissan has struck a deal with Ciudad del Taxi — the company that manages Madrid's taxis — for the supply of 110 low-emission vehicles. One of the largest fleets of its kind in the world, based on the compact Leaf with 30 kWh batteries, credited with a range of 250 km. The operation will allow the Spanish capital to align itself with cities that are symbols of sustainable mobility, such as Amsterdam, which already has one hundred "green" taxis, and Budapest, where sixty-five Leafs currently circulate for use in public transport.
And what about Italy? While in Europe the electric taxi market is moving fast — to the point that Nissan has already delivered 800 vehicles — our country is making do with small steps for now. Agreements with UriTaxi, the taxi drivers' representative union, have led to a general renewal of the low-emission vehicle fleet, but for a true evolution to take place — one that would relegate traditional vehicles to a marginal role — the charging infrastructure must first be expanded and strengthened.