London taxi EV

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Wed 24 Aug 2022 20:37
London taxi EV - barney100

If I heard this right a London taxi ev is £65k. It has a range of 80 miles but also has a petrol engine in it which dosen't power the wheels but charges the battery. Seems paradoxical to me.

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Wed 24 Aug 2022 20:54
London taxi EV - Adampr

That sounds about right (I don't know about the price but black cabs have always been expensive). The setup you describe is called a range extender. For low mileage vehicles it means you don't need the space and cost for a lot of batteries but you won't get stuck if you run out of charge. The IC engine will only kick in when the batteries are low, which isn't that likely in a city where average speed is about 10mph.

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Wed 24 Aug 2022 20:59
London taxi EV - badbusdriver

The setup you describe is called a range extender.

As used in the BMW i3 (as an option, used a 650cc 2 cyl BMW motorbike engine) and Vauxhall Ampera.

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Thu 25 Aug 2022 06:37
London taxi EV - Bolt

which isn't that likely in a city where average speed is about 10mph.

I know some London Taxi drivers and they often get to take people to the south coast from Central London, so its more often than you would think that they do long runs, but then probably less than 110 miles there and back

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Thu 25 Aug 2022 08:03
London taxi EV - mcb100
London Electric Vehicle Company (massive factory in Coventry, owned by Geely, also owners of Volvo, Polestar, Lotus & Proton) produce black cabs in both EV and range extender versions. Plus an electric van variant.
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Thu 25 Aug 2022 08:44
London taxi EV - daveyjp

80 miles is more than enough for the "knowledge area" which is about a 5 mile radius from central London, most trips are a few miles.

London cabbies make more money from short hops, rather than long distance trips.

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Thu 25 Aug 2022 11:42
London taxi EV - Chris M

"5 mile radius from central London"

Apparently it's a 6 mile radius of Charing Cross and includes over 26,000 roads.

I was watching an episode of Inside the Factory last week (I wish they'd find someone to present it other than that annoying slaphead). The factory was where they coach-build the bodies for London buses. From memory, I think the range was about 140 miles. My heart sank a little when it was revealed the chassis comes from China.

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Mon 29 Aug 2022 16:05
London taxi EV - edlithgow

My heart sank a little when it was revealed the chassis comes from China.

Very East Enders

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Thu 25 Aug 2022 09:01
London taxi EV - Sofa Spud
London Electric Vehicle Company (massive factory in Coventry, owned by Geely, also owners of Volvo, Polestar, Lotus & Proton) produce black cabs in both EV and range extender versions. Plus an electric van variant.

I don't think there's a pure EV version as yet. However, for many drivers the 64 mile battery range, plus possible use of a rapid charger during lunch-break, would mean the vehicle could run all day without the engine starting up/

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If you cover no more than 100 miles per day and have easy access to a charging point at home or work, then an EV is ideal for you.

Is an electric car right for me?