LONDON MAKES PLANS FOR NEW-AGE CABS

A raft of new regulations aimed at reducing pollution in London come into effect on 1 January 2020 and are expected to be copied by cities around the UK.

From that date, all new taxis sold must be capable of driving with zero emissions for more than 30 miles and produce average CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km. If an internal combustion engine is used, it must be petrol.

Transport for London (TFL) is also topping up grants for taxi drivers who make the switch to the new breed of cabs, providing an additional £3000 grant towards the purchase cost, as well as giving a further £5000 for anyone who decommissions a taxi that is more than 10 years old.

TFL is also spending £18m to upgrade the capital’s car charging infrastructure. It has set a target of having 300 new rapid chargers in place by 2020 — 75 of which will be in place by the end of 2017. A cap on charging costs is also expected.

The hope is that the incentives and charging upgrades will stimulate the uptake of electrified taxis on offer from manufacturers such as LEVC, Nissan and Mercedes. Projections suggest there will be 9000 such taxis on London’s roads by 2020.