London Taxi PR review the TX eCity cab
The London taxi promotion group, London Taxi PR, are the latest to take a look around the new TX eCity.
"Let's start by saying straight away this is not a hatchet job on this vehicle, we will take each aspect of this taxi & look at the pros & cons in a balanced way. We will give you our honest opinion then it's up to you the drivers to decide if it's for you or not.
From the first view of this cab it's quite pleasing on the eye, you can see straight away the little traits and nuances from earlier models. The proportions of the vehicle are right although it's bigger, the return of the suicide doors are a nice touch. We didn't like the door handles they seemed rather too chunky & plastic in feel, they should have been moulded into the door for a cleaner flush finish. Also the taxi hire light seemed small but was reassured the wording was being changed to a bolder text. Passing around the vehicle you get a sense of it's size, the tyres are bigger running on 215/65/17 rubber again looking right in proportion, passing around to the back gives you the feeling of a more substantial vehicle, the lines are clean with LED tail lights although seeing the LEVC script on the boot is something that we dislike because dropping the word taxi from their company title is a big mistake, and obviously opens the door for other vehicles which will be produced on this platform.
On entering the vehicles passenger compartment you are met with a sense of anticlimax because this feels like corners have been cut. The interior panels are solid enough but lack that feeling of quality one would expect from a vehicle costing £60k. The tip up seats are well damped on the upsweep but feel somewhat fragile and the seating configuration sees you sitting slightly staggered to the adjacent passenger. The rear seat has room for three adults but there's no pull down centre arm rest. The floor is completely flat with the wheelchair ramp inter grated under the floor in a concealed compartment keeping it free of road dirt and should ensure smooth operation. The glass roof is a nice touch but we feel they've missed an opportunity to add a charging element to enable more charging of the batteries, through a solar panel.
On entering the drivers compartment, the most important bit for us you're met yet again with the feeling that they could have done better. The drivers seat is comfortable enough with enough leg room for the taller driver, I myself being 6'3" managed to get enough adjustment to get comfortable. The biggest issue here is not being able to see the edges of the front wings but this will be something you obviously get use to. The controls are all nicely to hand but the vision through the door mirrors are absolutely atrocious, they're too small and offer very limited vision. The centre display panel is somewhat plastic in feel but everything is controlled through here. The luggage bay seems very shallow and small considering this vehicle seats six.
Exiting the vehicle and lifting the bonnet your met with an array of cables and a small engine which is the range extender. This is the most disappointing aspect of the vehicle as the engine doesn't actually charge the battery it only maintains the charge in the battery, so you will have to charge this vehicle overnight and run it on petrol mode to get through the day unless you want to stop and charge it up halfway through your working day, if working solely in electric mode. So to sum up this vehicle and taking all things into account we feel it's too expensive and only having a three year warranty on the vehicle leaves the driver exposed to the chance that being out of warranty whilst still paying for it for an additional two years is something that shouldn't happen when your paying over £60k. This price also should accommodate every extra available and not additional charges for what's supposed to be a top end vehicle. This vehicle has the potential to be very good but there are issues that need addressing and quickly before it's released onto the streets of London Town."
