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."

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Bristol to test new green bus technology
    January 9, 2015
    The city of Bristol in the UK is to pilot the latest green technology for buses thanks to a US$1.5 million grant from the Government to coincide with the city’s year as European Green Capital. Baroness Kramer, minister of State for Transport, announced today that Bristol will receive funding to purchase a number of new hybrid buses which can switch from diesel to electric automatically in low emission zones. The grant from the green bus fund will be used to purchase a number of hybrid buses with geo-f
  • LaHood named co-chairman of Building America’s Future
    January 9, 2014
    Former US Secretary of Transportation is to join Building America’s Future (BAF) as a new co-chair. Serving alongside fellow co-chairs former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell the LaHood will help lead BAF’s bipartisan coalition of current and former elected officials who are committed to raising awareness about the need to invest in our nation’s roads, bridges, airports, rails and ports. Together, the BAF co-chairs called on Washington to support critica
  • ITS America annual meeting focuses on smart transportation
    January 25, 2012
    ITS America's next Annual Meeting, in Fort Washington in May 2012, is being planned at a turning point for US transportation and the nation's economy. We asked event organising committee chair Connie Sorrell a few pertinent questions on why attending Fort Washington will be essential for all transportation professionals
  • US DoT launches largest-ever road test of connected vehicle crash avoidance technology
    August 22, 2012
    Nearly 3,000 cars, trucks and buses equipped with connected Wi-Fi technology to enable vehicles and infrastructure to ‘talk’ to each other in real time to help avoid crashes and improve traffic flow, began traversing Ann Arbor's streets yesterday as part of a year-long safety pilot project by the US Department of Transportation. Ray LaHood, US Transportation Secretary, joined elected officials and industry and community leaders on the University of Michigan campus to launch the second phase of the Safety Pi