After 50 years of diesel power, the venerable black cab is going green with an electric version that's due to go on sale in 2009.Black cab maker Manganese Bronze will work with British commercial electric vehicle maker Smith Electric Vehicles to develop the TX4E, which is said to have a range of 100 miles and top speed of 50mph. It will use lithium ion batteries and, claims Manganese Bronze, will cost around 4p per mile to run.However, it will be more expensive than a conventional TX4, which starts at around £28,000, which is likely to put some drivers off investing in the electric cab. A Manganese Bronze spokesman said the TX4E would probably be of interest "to a small group of drivers" unless there was a change in emissions legislation to include black cabs.A conventional TX4 is exempt from emissions-based charging such as London's congestion charge, despite the automatic model emitting more than the 225g/km limit above which drivers must pay £25 to enter central London.
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Re: The electric black cab
Re: The electric black cab
4-6p a mile? I wish my small hatchback cost that little to run! Do the What Car figures include fuel costs? They surely can't do, 4p/mile on petrol is over 100mpg!
Re: The electric black cab
I beg to differ on that matter of electric vehicles being a long way off. At the Commercial Vehicles Show last week at the NEC, electric vehicles were everywhere!
Last year only two EV makers were there - market leader Smith Electric Vehicles, and Coventry-based Modec. Between them they have already sold and delivered several hundred all-electric vans and trucks ranging from Transit sized 3.5ton vans, to 12 ton delivery trucks. Bought by parcel delivery firms including TNT and DHL, as well as supermarkets Tesco and Sainsbury's. The vehicles are out there in daily use on the streets and highways.
LDV will be joinng them 12 weeks from now with an all-electric Maxus range of vans. All-electric versions of the Peugeot Boxer van range were also on sale at the show. Several smaller manufacturers of roadgoing commercial electric vehicles were also at the show.
Smith Electric Vehicles are about to announce the purchase of a new factory in north-east England, allowing them to triple production in order to meet demand, followed later this year by a new US factory to satisfy US interest.
Electric cars may be 2 or 3 years away from mass production, but in the commercial field things are taking off already. The hugely advantageous running costs and extremely low maintenance requirements are seen by fleet managers as outweighing the high purchase price. Especially where tax and congestion charge exemptions are involved.