LEVC (London EV Company) has confirmed that its all-new electric TX Taxi is now fully certified to carry fare-paying passengers in London.
The new TX promises class-leading wheelchair accessibility, air conditioning, phone charging and a more spacious cabin with six seats. Features abound including wide-opening, rear-hinged doors, power sockets for laptops, on-board wifi, contactless card machines and a large panoramic roof.
Having been put through a rigorous testing programme, including extreme weather conditions in the Arctic Circle and Arizona, plus thousands of miles in the hands of real cab drivers in London, the new TX is now ready to go– ahead of TfL’s January 2018 deadline when all newly licensed taxis need to be zero emission capable.
The landmark moment was celebrated on the 65th Anniversary of the Great London Smog at Circus West Village, where the first 57 of 1,000 planned charging points are already available for use as part of the first phase of the Battersea Power Station regeneration.
Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, said: “These new electric taxis are at the forefront of green transport technology and will play a transformational role in the Mayor’s plan to phase out diesel and clean up the transport network. This will help to accelerate improvements to London's toxic air.”
All LEVC products use its eCity technology comprising of a battery electric powertrain with a small back-up petrol generator. Applied to the all-new electric TX, the system enables a range of up to 400 miles including 80 miles in pure electric mode.
Unlike the previous taxi, the new TX’s multi-filter system works to remove gases and particles from the incoming air. In addition, an in-built air quality sensor also automatically closes the external air intake if it detects increased levels of pollution in the outside air – protecting passengers, and the driver, from poor-quality air.
Active and passive safety systems include forward collision warnings, autonomous emergency braking and emergency brake assistance, combined with a strong, rigid aluminium body shell with ‘crash protection to the highest international standards’, says LEVC.
Carl-Peter Forster, Chairman of the LEVC, said: “There have been many milestones on this journey, from opening a brand-new factory in the heart of the UK – the first brand new automotive manufacturing facility in Britain for over a decade; the first dedicated electric vehicle factory in the UK – to today’s announcement that our new TX has passed all certification tests and is now able to carry fare-paying passengers. And this is just the start. We will deliver new TX models in Europe later in 2018 – and across the world.”
LEVC claims it has received thousands expressions of interest in London for the new electric TX since order books opened on 1 August, 2017 and the first electric TX models will be handed over to drivers this month.
Backed by an investment totalling £325m, LEVC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Geely (the Chinese carmaker that also owns Volvo), has set its sights on becoming the urban commercial vehicle provider of choice for cities across the globe. The new TX launch is to be followed up by an electric LCV (Light Commercial Vehicle).