Humble taxi cab gives up smoking

I doubt there are many new car owners happier than Nayyer Ahmad.

The taxi driver, who’s in his 40s, has spent the last 15 years or so smoking, quite literally, around Manchester at the wheel of an iconic black cab.

The traditional TX taxi is not a very pleasant vehicle. Powered over the years by various rattly diesel engines from Cummins to Nissan, the TX shakes, sounds terrible and by all accounts is not much loved by drivers.

But why is Nayyer now such a happy cabbie? Because he’s just taken delivery of his new LEVC TX electric taxi and got shot of his old TX2 traditional cab (the current conventional model is the TX4 so Nayyer really has been driving around in an old clunker).

I can understand why he’s chuffed with his new motor because we’ve just tested one out on London’s streets.

The new TX is actually a hybrid that uses a combination of electric power and a small petrol engine that’s used as a range extender.

It’s exactly the same arrangement as used by Vauxhall in its Ampera and in BMW’S i3 and i8. In a taxi it makes for an almost ideal powertrain. LEVC is owned by Geely – the same Chinese giant that owns Volvo and which last year bought Lotus – and it’s Volvo that supplies the small threecylinder petrol engine that runs the generator.

The TX’S chassis is completely new and is made from aluminium which offsets the weight of having a large lithium ion battery pack under the floor.

The TX is longer than the outgoing model but is the same width and, crucially, retains the legendary black cab tight turning circle. Slip into the driver’s seat and you’re faced with a very smart, simple and modern set of controls. To your left is a large touchscreen set at an angle facing you, through which you can access the various driving modes.

On pure electric power the TX will manage around 60 miles depending on driving conditions. That’s plenty of range if your fares take you no further than around the centre of Manchester or London but a problem if, say, you have to go out to the airports.

There are three driving modes

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DELIGHTED Nayyer with his new black cab