The taxi fleet in New York City will go entirely hybrid within five years, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday. “There’s an awful lot of taxicabs on the streets of New York City,” Bloomberg said. “These cars just sit there in traffic sometimes, belching fumes.”This does a lot less. It’s a lot better for all of us,” he said of the hybrid plan.
Nearly 400 fuel-efficient hybrids have been tested in the city’s taxi fleet over the past 18 months, with models including the Toyota Prius, the Toyota Highlander Hybrid, the Lexus RX 400h and the Ford Escape.
Under Bloomberg’s plan, that number will increase to 1,000 by October 2008, then will grow by about 20 percent each year until 2012, when every yellow cab — currently numbering 13,000 — will be a hybrid.
Hybrid vehicles run on a combination of gasoline and electricity, emitting less exhaust and achieving higher gas mileage per gallon. The standard yellow cab vehicle, the Ford Crown Victoria, gets 14 miles per gallon. In contrast, the Ford Escape taxis get 36 miles per gallon.
Hybrid vehicles are typically more expensive, but the city said the increase in fuel efficiency will save taxi operators more than $10,000 per year. Yahoo Inc. said it would donate 10 hybrid Ford Escapes for the city’s effort.
World’s first all-lithium taxi takes center stage in the TAXI 07 Exhibit at the 2007 New York International Auto Show presented by Hybrid Technologies, Inc. (HYBT.OB) .
HYBT is an emerging leader in the development and marketing of lithium-powered products worldwide was once again the buzz of the New York International Auto Show with the highly publicized and breakthrough vehicle, the NYC all-lithium Taxi, covered on CNN.
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