Day: April 24, 2013

Filed under: Government/Legal, Work, Hatchback, Nissan, Electric

When New York City picked the Nissan NV200 as its Taxi of Tomorrow, many were surprised that the vehicle wasn’t electric, or even a hybrid for that matter. With NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg on hand, Nissan celebrated Earth Day on Monday by unveiling a pilot program of electric taxis for the city consisting of six 2013 Nissan Leaf EVs, which the mayor referred to as the “taxi of the day after tomorrow.”

This pilot program is aimed to show how EVs can operate as taxi cabs, and Mayor Bloomberg said that New York City hopes to have a third of its taxi fleet electrified by 2020. In addition to the six cars, Nissan has also provided three quick chargers around Manhattan, allowing the Leafs to get an 80-percent recharge in just 30 minutes.

According to David Yassky, commissioner of the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, “What we have to do now is figure out how you integrate the charging of an electric vehicle into the duty of a taxi cab.”

Scroll down for a press release about the pilot program as well as a video interviewing Mayor Bloomberg, Yassky and even one of the pilot drivers.

Continue reading Nissan Leaf all-electric taxis start pilot program in NYC [w/video]

Nissan Leaf all-electric taxis start pilot program in NYC [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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