Although there are some concerns about the range of an electric taxi for a city like London, Smith Electric Vehicles wants to prove that it can be made. Smith has announced, via its newsletter, an agreement with LTI Vehicles, the manufacturers of the iconic British taxis, to build a battery powered, zero emission urban taxi cab. Under the agreement, LTI and Smith will produce an all-electric version of LTI's TX4 black cab, branded the TX4E. First tests show that the vehicle can get up to 50mph and has a "range in excess of 100 miles on one battery charge."

According to Smith, the TX4E will contain all the conventional features of the TX4, but will be powered by Smith's advanced electric drive train and a lithium-ion iron phosphate battery pack. It will be manufactured in the UK for the domestic market (so no chance to buy it abroad) and sold through LTI's distribution network. Smith says that, based on current electricity prices, the vehicle will cost less than 4p per mile to run - which is far better than the diesel versions. The last time I checked diesel in the UK it was more than a pound per liter, and the TX4 needs about 10-12 liters/100 km (20-ish mpg U. S.) to run in urban traffic.

[Source: Smith Electic Vehicles]

LTI taxis are one of easily-recognized symbols of Great Britain. Current models have a very competent VM Motori-sourced 2.5 liter diesel which gets 23 mpg on city driving (21 mpg with automatic) which is Euro IV compliant. But as anyone visiting a British city can assess, not all taxis have the latest iteration of clean engines.

Therefore, to clean up vehicle emissions and to increase sales, LTI is offering a deal to potential buyers. If you have a one of the old £300-worth M-registered or older Fairway or Metrocab models that is currently PCO licensed, you can get £3,000 towards a new LTI along with a buy-now-pay-in-2009 deal. Where? At the M&O LTI dealer in London. Hit the read link for more details and check out the complete LTI TX4 gallery below.


Related:

• NYC is looking for "The taxi of tomorrow"
• 50 hybrid taxis coming to Melbourne in 2008
• Reinventing a transportation icon, a double-decker for the 21st century

[Source: LTI]