Your first chance to see the new range-extended, electrified London Taxi will take place this weekend coming at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where the London Taxi Company TX5 will make its dynamic debut on the famous Goodwood hillclimb.
For capital dwellers it’ll become a common sight in years to come, but for now it will feature in the ‘First Glance’ paddock, alongside other prototype and concept vehicles from international manufacturers.
Recently, the new TX5 has been through extreme weather testing in Arizona, and the company has release a clutch of new official pictures.
Hot weather testing is a vital phase in the development of any new vehicle, but for the part electrified new taxi it’s crucial – tests like these reveal how long the range extender TX5 can go with the climate control systems on full blast, and how the new powertrain copes with extremely hot conditions.
According to LTC, the TX5 mules are covering around 300 miles a day in these conditions – the equivalent of driving from central London to Heathrow airport 20 times, and around three times as many miles as the average London cabbie notches up in a day.
In the next few weeks, more testing in humid and mountainous environments will take place – all in a bid to ensure that the new taxi is competent around the streets of London.
The London Taxi Company will operate from a Coventry based manufacturing facility dedicated to the production of next generation black cabs – the first new car factory in the UK for over a decade.
LTC’s Chinese parent firm Geely has invested £300m in the new plant, which is the UK’s first car factory dedicated to building electric vehicles only. The new range-extender TX5 taxi will be built at the plant from later this year and exported globally, creating more than 1,000 new jobs in the UK’s automotive industry.
The site has the capacity to build up to 20,000 vehicles a year. New TX5 cabs built here will go on sale in the UK late 2017, while worldwide availability will begin early next year. In addition to building the new taxi, the site will also become a research and development hub for lightweight aluminium body structures and future electric vehicle powertrains.
Replacing a globally renowned icon is no mean feat, but that’s exactly what the London Taxi Company is doing. The Coventry-based firm is set to roll out an all-new black cab with a range-extending hybrid powertrain at the end of this year.
Called the TX5, the new London taxi is completely redesigned from the ground up, including a new platform architecture and a state-of-the-art plug-in powertrain. It uses an all-new Volvo three-cylinder petrol engine as a generator for a large battery pack and electric motors – allowing a pure-EV range of over 70 miles. It also features six passenger seats and is fully wheelchair compatible.
The London Taxi Company (LTC) was bought out by Chinese carmaker Geely back in 2012 and a large investment of £275m has been made with the aim of bringing a petrol-electric taxi to market before Transport for London brings in new emissions legislation. Auto Express has spoken to LTC’s new CEO, Chris Gubbey, who revealed further details.
Gubbey joined LTC last year, with a long global automotive background including stints at Ford and General Motors. He has ambitions beyond the UK’s capital with the TX5, and discussions are underway with a number of European cities.
“It is important that this is also rolled out across Europe, as there has been a considerable investment for this project”, Gubbey said.
“These will be very tough markets to get into, though – they are very nationalistic. But London as a city is not unique in wanting to improve local air quality”.
The high-tech new production facility (described as being “like something out of Formula 1” by bosses) has the capacity to build up to 36,000 units annually. Gubbey’s target is for 50 per cent of London’s black cab fleet to convert to the new TX5 by 2020 – that’s fewer than 12,000 vehicles.
LTC itself has doubled its research and development staff number – up to 600 – in the last year. Gubbey says that most of the engineering work for the TX5 is already done, and the staff are now in the process of “fine tuning” the production car.
Gubbey claims that LTC is also looking into using the TX5 platform for a commercial vehicle. He cites the public’s change in purchasing habits as being a “perfect opportunity” to launch a small petrol-electric van to meet the challenge of potential city centre diesel bans in future.
TX5 design – classic black cab lines reinvented
The TX5 design concept captures the spirit of past generations of LTC models and draws on more than sixty years of style that has made the black cab and iconic sight on the streets of London.
Senior vice president of Geely design, Peter Horbury, told Auto Express: “The brief was clear. It has to look like a London taxi.”
The new design uses a similarly vertical front grille, and rounded headlights, with a more upright stance and chrome touches. While the interior design is still under consideration, the six-seat layout has been confirmed, alongside the large panoramic glass roof for a more “premium experience.”
David Ancona, Design Director of Geely Barcelona said: “This decision was market driven. The [Mercedes] Vito was quite successful because it had that extra seat. It allowed three couples to go out together, or people to go to airports in groups. So it was decided to go that way.”
It makes use of a new lightweight aluminium structure and composite panelling, allowing the model to achieve a “full five-star Euro NCAP score” – according to Geely bosses.
As before, the new London taxi will use a front engine, rear-wheel drive layout, allowing it to boast the same market-leading tight turning circle. Despite its obvious associations with the outgoing TX4, Geely tells us all 2,000 components have been designed from the ground up.
The taxi isn’t due to hit the streets until later this year. Despite the higher specification and complex drivetrain, Ancona insists the TX5 won’t cost any more to buy or lease than the current model – thanks to government subsidies for low emission vehicles.
source: Autoexpress.
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AN UBER taxi mounted the pavement and crashed into a wall in Southsea.
The incident happened at 6.30pm yesterday at the junction of St Simons Road and Waverley Road.
The driver was uninjured and exchanged details with the owner of the house.
Police said they were called but did not need to attend.
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CROATIA
Bad Publicity for Zagreb UBERK protest Taxi strike.
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