Scottish cabbies left fuming after fault on new taxis forces drivers to leave their vehicles idling

Cab drivers in Scotland have been left fuming after it was revealed that a technical fault with the Tourneo-based Ford ProCab was forcing them to leave their cabs idling for over an hour.

It was claimed that new taxis, which were brought in to help tackle the air pollution crisis in Scottish cities, have a fault with the air filters which become clogged up with harmful pollutants such as particulates after a short period of time.

The only two ways to currently solve the problem is to leave the engine idling for up to 40 minutes twice a day to clear the filter, or undertake continual oil changes which will set drivers back approximately £300 a time.

With the only taxis being permitted in Edinburgh city centre from 2022 and Glasgow city centre from 2023, being those which are Euro 6 compliant the situation has created a major headache for cabbies.

One cabbie explained that he has had to have four oil changes since last December, whilst another claimed to have had an incredible nine oil changes in 18 months because of the defect.

Taxi driver Danny Tebb told The Scotsman

that he was livid with the current situation, describing the vehicle as unfit for taxi driving. 

It is believed that Ford have now developed a prototype software update which will allow a driver to manually initiate a filter clean. However, it is thought that drivers would need to perform the action for 40 minutes twice a day, meaning the cab would be sat stationary with the engine running to clean the filter.

With David Facenna, sales director of Glasgow-based Cab Direct, describing bringing the vehicles up to Euro 6 standards as "stretching" manufacturers, Ford has said that it was willing to listen to drivers who have encountered major problems. 

A spokesperson for Ford said: “Short stop-start drive cycles generate more particulates, which is well within the filter’s ability to handle and avoid clogging via a regeneration cycle when the engine’s up to temperature, running for 20 minutes and under load.” 

Image Source: Geograph

Image Author: Thomas Nugent