London Mayor urged to consider INCREASING the life span of electric taxis to increase take up

The London Mayor will be urged to consider INCREASING the life span of the capital’s electric taxis to improve take up of the new vehicle. Caroline Pidgeon, Assembly Member and Deputy Chair of the Transport Committee, will table the consideration to London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, next week as part of Mayor’s Question Time.

This consideration comes after the London Assembly called for the Mayor to maintain the maximum taxi licence age at 15 years for currently licensed diesel taxis and bring back the Mercedes Vito taxi for first time registration. The Mayor introduced a phased reduction of the maximum age of a licensed taxi from 15 years to 12 years in December 2018. Extending the life span of newly registered electric taxis could be seen as a positive move to help drivers finance the move to zero-emission capable vehicles. The Lib Dem Assembly Member, Caroline Pidgeon, will also ask the Mayor to re-examine the merit of bulk purchasing electric taxis through Transport for London (TfL). The fleet purchase would look to drive down the current individual unit price of a taxi, making it more affordable to drivers. Similar bulk purchase strategies were used by TfL in the past to purchase New Routemaster buses. 

Image credit: LEVC