In major cities everywhere around the world, you will find thousands of taxi’s patrolling the streets every single day. The vast majority of these taxis run on gasoline and collectively pump out carbon emissions in significant volumes.
To mitigate the environmental impacts of taxi fleets, we are beginning to see more cities that require minimum fuel efficiency standards for any new taxi vehicles being purchased. Cities like San Francisco, New York City, Toronto, Vancouver and others have rules in place to encourage or mandate fuel efficiency standards.
The end result is that we are seeing many more hybrids on the road as taxis. The Toyota Prius and Camry Hybrid tend to be two of the more popular choices among taxi fleet owners. However, we are also beginning to see the slow emergence of taxi operators turning to full Battery Electric Vehicles instead.
Recently, Montréal witnessed an important event: the launch of Canada’s first all-electric taxi service, and perhaps an early harbinger of things to come across the taxi industry.
Teo Taxi fleet to initially include 24, 2016 Nissan Leaf EVs. Photo: Nissan Canada
“This announcement is a huge milestone for Montréal’s taxi industry. Our new electric taxi project is called Téo, which stands for Transport Écologique Optimisé, or optimized environmental transportation,” said Alexandre Taillefer, Managing Partner at XPND Capital. “The service officially launched on November 26 of this year when a fleet of 50 taxis began driving the city streets. We plan to have about 2,000 in circulation by May 2019. We are fortunate to have partnered with all-electric car manufacturers..and we are confident that these zero-emission vehicles will meet the needs of both taxi drivers and their customers.”
For the first all-electric vehicles in its Montréal fleet, Taxelco team members will operate a fleet of Nissan Leaf, Kia Soul EV and Tesla Model S vehicles.
“Nissan is delighted to have been chosen as a partner and supplier of electric vehicles for Montréal’s electric taxi pilot project,” said Christian Meunier, president of Nissan Canada Inc. “The Québec EV market is a priority for Nissan because over 50 per cent of Nissan LEAF vehicles sold in Canada are sold in Québec.”
“It’s inspiring to see that companies such as Taxelco want to make the taxi industry more profitable as well as improving its environmental footprint by using fully electric vehicles. Together, we are proud to show that emission-free driving makes sense from a cost of ownership perspective, and also helps to achieve healthier and more habitable cities. This is clear proof not only that many Quebecers recognize the huge cost-savings in owning a Nissan LEAF, but also that the electric vehicle market is developing strongly, especially in this province,” concluded Meunier.
The potential of this project is indeed significant. While this is the first example of an all EV taxi fleet in Canada, other examples have begun to appear around the world. Chicago has recently seen the launch of an all Tesla limousine fleet, and London, England recently saw an all BMW i3 taxi service launch there as well.
One can only hope that both the economic and environmental advantages of a service like this will continue to catch on elsewhere.
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