It's time to say adios to the classic yellow Ford Crown Vic. In May 2007, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced plans to transform the city's ubiquitous yellow cab fleet from the old school Ford Crown Victorias to all hybrids. For the past couple of years, a variety of hybrid vehicles have been gradually infiltrating the fleet and generally performing well. Ford Escape hybrids have become a common site on the streets of Manhattan. Under the new rules, starting this October all new cabs coming into the fleet will be required to get 25 mpg in the city with that number jumping to 30 mpg in 2009. That essentially means the end of the Crown Vic. The city has now reached agreement with Nissan, Ford and GM to supply a steady stream hybrid vehicles for taxi use. Nissan will offer up 200 Altima hybrids every month while Ford and Chevrolet will provide 50 each of its Escape and Malibu hybrids every month. These 300 vehicles per month will ensure that there are sufficient supplies to meet the turnover needs of the fleet over the next several years and replace the entire fleet by 2012.

[Source: New York Times]

I was in Manhattan for a couple of days this week on a press event and noticed a new addition to the local cab fleet. For years now, the classic Crown Vics have been getting supplemented by Toyota Siennas, Ford Escape hybrids and the odd Prius. While cabbies love the mileage they get with the Prius and Escape, the passengers aren't always so thrilled with the volume available in the back seat. This is where the Nissan Altima hybrid comes in. The Altima has a roomier back seat than the other two hybrids, making it more suitable to the task. Unfortunately, that battery sucks up about a third of the trunk volume, making the Altima less suitable if your destination is one of the New York area airports. When we had an Altima Hybrid in the ABG Garage last year it managed 32.4mpg, which is quite respectable. Plus, it's probably the most attractive yellow car prowling the streets of Gotham right now.

[Source: TreeHugger]

It's not like there has been a lack of news about New York's hybrid taxis recently (see links below), but I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of it now: Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today that all of city's yellow taxi will be switching over to hybrid models within five years. The AP notes that Bloomberg is most concerned with the environmental aspect of the move. "There's an awful lot of taxicabs on the streets of New York City," Bloomberg told the AP. "These cars just sit there in traffic sometimes, belching fumes. This does a lot less. It's a lot better for all of us."

The hybrids should do well in the city. Hundreds of them have been tested over hundreds of thousands of miles over the past year and a half. There are 400 hybrid taxis operating now, and Bloomberg plans for 1,000 by next year and all 13,000 vehicles in the fleet will be hybrids by 2012. CNN says that the city has approved the following hybrids for yellow cab use: Toyota Highlander, Lexus RX 400H, Ford Escape, Saturn VUE Green Line, Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Honda Civic. City spokespeople said using a hybrid should save taxi operators $10,000 a year per vehicle, compared to driving a standard vehicle.

I wonder if there will a tussle with GM over the "Live green, go Yellow" slogan...

Related:

• Hybrid Technologies lithium-battery-powered taxi cruising NYC
• Cleantech Launches Hybrid Taxi Initiative
• The "Greenest City in America" can win a free fleet of hybrid taxis
• Ford Escape hybrid taxis top 175,000 miles
• Yellow cabs turning green at New York Auto Show
• Bloomberg to announce $8 congestion fee for cars entering NYC

[Source: CNN, Yahoo!; h/t to Patrick]

There have been eighteen Ford Focus Hybrids operating as New York City taxis for about two years now. Each of the vehicles in the fleet has now exceeded 175,000 miles in service. That's the equivalent of eleven years of typical driving for average customers. Since urban driving of the type done by New York city taxis is the optimal operating condition for hybrid vehicles, they have saved an estimated $250,000 in fuel costs.

[Source: Ford]