Skip to main content

New York launches electric taxi pilot

To celebrate Earth Day, Nissan and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have launched a new electric vehicle taxi pilot with the Nissan Leaf, putting six Leaf taxis into service to help Nissan, the city, the taxi industry and the public understand how zero emission vehicles can be integrated into future taxi fleets. As part of the pilot, Nissan and partners in New York City will also install several CHAdeMO-based DC quick chargers, which will enable drivers to re-charge their electric taxis quickly during
April 23, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
To celebrate Earth Day, 838 Nissan and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have launched a new electric vehicle taxi pilot with the Nissan Leaf, putting six Leaf taxis into service to help Nissan, the city, the taxi industry and the public understand how zero emission vehicles can be integrated into future taxi fleets.

As part of the pilot, Nissan and partners in New York City will also install several CHAdeMO-based DC quick chargers, which will enable drivers to re-charge their electric taxis quickly during their shift. With quick charging, Nissan LEAF can be recharged to about 80 percent in less than thirty minutes.

Joe Castelli, vice president, Nissan commercial vehicles said: "As part of our commitment to zero emission vehicles for the mass-market, Nissan is looking for ways to broaden the use of electric cars, including commercial applications like taxis.”  He went on to say that the New York provides the ultimate proving ground to conduct the Leaf taxi pilot to help optimise the use of electric vehicle technology for future applications.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: "Even though the Taxi of Tomorrow won't be on the road for another six months, we're already looking ahead to the taxi of the day after tomorrow. Nissan's proven track record with electric vehicles will put us ahead of the curve in helping us answer important questions about incorporating electric taxis into the fleet so that we can achieve the goal of a one-third electric taxi fleet by 2020."

Related Content

  • June 20, 2013
    Rio de Janeiro launches electric car partnership
    A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed by the Rio de Janeiro State Government and leaders from Brazil's public-private sectors to accelerate zero-emission transportation in Rio de Janeiro. The partners for this historic deal are Renault-Nissan Alliance, Petrobras Distribuidora, Light, Ampla and Rio Negocios.
  • February 28, 2013
    South Africa launches electric vehicle pilot programme
    South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has launched a zero emission electric vehicle pilot programme, which would see it trial a fleet of electric vehicles. Speaking at the launch, water and environmental affairs minister Edna Molewa said the multi-stakeholder partnership project would pilot, test and demonstrate the viability of electric vehicles under South African conditions. The pilot programme would also serve to determine end-user, infrastructure and running costs associated with loc
  • April 2, 2012
    Nissan big turn on to charge up cities across Europe
    Cities all over Britain and Europe will be invited to embrace electric driving and encourage their communities to support Nissan’s campaign – ‘The Big Turn On’ – in a bid to win 30 quick chargers from the company. The quick chargers are part of a wider initiative from Nissan to get one million consumers switched onto electric driving, in just 100 days. The basis of the campaign is to engage the public and support their city’s bid to win a new electric driving infrastructure from Nissan. These chargers can r
  • October 23, 2012
    First all-electric taxi fleet could hit roads in US
    A fleet of all-electric cabs may soon be plugged in and driving on the streets of Arlington, Virginia, US, a sign the environmentally-friendly vehicles are slowly catching on as a viable means of transportation in the US. "No one has really taken the first step to do this," said Malik Khattak, founder of Electric Vehicle Taxicab Company, who has proposed a fleet of 40 all-electric Nissan Leaf cars which he says will be the first taxicab fleet of its kind in the US.