The London Electric Vehicle Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Geely Motors, says London taxi cab operators have save £3.5 million in fuel costs since it introduced its PHEV electric cab last year. The electrified black cab has a range of 80 miles and an onboard range extender gasoline engine. To date, 2,500 of the LEVC cabs have been sold, with 2,000 of them plying their trade on the streets of London, and the remainder operating elsewhere in the UK.
Image courtesy LEVC
LEVC says its electric cabs have made a “huge contribution” to reducing emissions, preventing a collective 6,800 tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere compared to traditional fossil fuel taxis, according to Business Green. That’s equivalent to 1,500 round trip flights from London to Sydney, Australia.
The electrified taxis drastically reduce NOx pollution — down 99.5% compared to typical diesel-powered black cabs. Collectively, they have given rides to 13 million passengers and accumulated more than 21 million passenger miles — enough to travel to the moon and back 45 times. The company says its vehicles save each individual cab driver about £100 each week on fuel costs.
In total, about 850,000 liters of diesel fuel have been been left in service station tanks as the electric taxis waft passengers silently from point to point. If you are in the business of selling diesel fuel, that can’t be good news.
Since its 2014 takeover, Chinese parent firm Geely has invested more than £500 million in turning LEVC – formally the London Taxi Company – into an EV manufacturer, with plans to launch several more electrified commercial vehicle models for sale across the UK, Europe, and other countries. The company says its electric cabs have enjoyed “significant sales” in Norway, the Netherlands and Germany. It is now selling its first vehicles in Sweden, Hong Kong, and Malaysia.
If you are in business and someone tells you there is a way to save more than £3.5 million in fixed costs every year, do you:
A. Run around screaming about crushing government regulations and moan loudly about government picking winners and losers in business?
B. Pressure your local government representatives to ban the infernal contraptions making this possible?
C. Order 10 of the magic devices that will put money in your pocket and place a help wanted ad for more workers?
The choice seems fairly obvious. Score another victory for simple economics.
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