London's largest taxi company will switch to electric cars by 2023

London-based private taxi company Addison Lee has pledged to convert its entire fleet to electric vehicles by 2023. Although the company's website states that it operates more than 4,800 vehicles in the UK capital, the recent acquisition of taxi service ComCab will make it the largest taxi company in London with more than 7,000 vehicles. Following the acquisition, the company already has 650 zero-emission vehicles in its fleet, but has teamed up with Volkswagen in order to make the full switch to electric vehicles.

Addison Lee is investing £160 million ($218 million) to replace its existing fleet with more powerful Volkswagen ID.4 vehicles. The standard ID.4 has a 77 kWh lithium-ion battery pack and has a range of 250 miles (just over 402 km), making it more suitable for city use than long-distance driving. It has 201 horsepower and a top speed of 100 mph (160 km/h).

The company will start with 450 electric vehicles by the end of 2021, presumably in addition to the existing 650 electric vehicles. The company then plans to add 200 electric vehicles a month until its entire fleet is replaced. This would mean up to 20,000 zero-emission journeys every day in London.

One can only envy the conscientiousness of the taxi company, as well as its ability to maintain a fleet of this size with such an impressive investment. Citizens of the country where these minibuses have won do not have much to be proud of.

Source: addisonlee, engadget

Illustrations: addisonlee