Mobile London taxi wash on two wheels cleans black cabs between passenger fares

A London mobile car wash is targeting licensed taxi drivers among other motorists with a scooter-based service designed to clean cabs at the kerb while reducing downtime between fares.

Washello transports its entire operation on scooters and electric scooters. Water is carried in an insulated cooler behind the rider, while a battery-powered pressure washer, vacuum, polisher, waxes and cleaning products are stored on the vehicle.

The company cleans taxis where they are parked, removing the need for drivers to travel to a conventional car wash and wait for a cleaning bay. For working cabbies, that model could reduce unproductive mileage and time spent away from passengers.

Washello founder James Allen said: “I clean the cab where it’s parked, between fares, because a driver sitting in a forecourt queue for forty minutes isn’t earning.”

The business began in 2016 after Allen fitted a 12V Sealey pressure washer to a Honda Vision 125 previously used as a pizza delivery scooter. Exterior washes were initially priced at £5, although Allen said the unfamiliar operating model struggled to gain customers.

“Nobody in my area really trusted me, especially at £5 a wash,” Allen said. “There were plenty of lessons to learn, and I had to prove the idea could actually work.”

Allen continued working as a Deliveroo rider between bookings while developing the equipment. The original delivery box was replaced with a larger container capable of carrying a Dyson vacuum, cleaning products, waxes and a polisher, with further equipment stored beneath the scooter seat.

Ten years later, Washello says it has cleaned more than 5,000 vehicles and is handling up to five cars a day. Its customer base includes households, businesses and licensed London taxi drivers, including drivers operating electric black cabs through FREENOW. The company currently has two riders, including one using an electric scooter in Central London.

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The scooter model is intended to keep operating costs below those faced by van-based mobile valeting businesses. Washello says its vehicles avoid ULEZ charges, cost less to insure and run, move more quickly through London traffic and do not require a van-sized parking space beside the customer’s vehicle.

“There’s no van,” Allen said. “The water rides in a beer cooler strapped behind the seat, the pressure washer runs off a battery, and everything else goes in the box on the back.”

Each scooter carries enough equipment to complete the job without connecting to the customer’s electricity or mains water. Washello reports water consumption of between 20 and 40 litres per vehicle and says all water required for the clean is transported to the site.

The company operates across approximately 64 postcode districts covering ten London boroughs and areas, including Westminster, Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Southwark, Kensington and Chelsea, Newham and Canary Wharf.

Current prices start at £19.95 for an interior or exterior clean. A mini valet costs £34.95, an inside-and-out clean is £49.95 and a full valet is listed at £89.95, with a £5 supplement for larger vehicles. Washello says 3,145 bookings have been made through its website since online booking began in November 2022.

Allen said the business still has no plans to adopt a van-based operating model. He is instead considering whether the same low-overhead system could be applied to other mobile services delivered using scooters and bicycles.

“Ten years and more than 5,000 cars later I still haven’t bought a van,” Allen said. “No ULEZ, a fraction of the running costs, and I never take a parking space off anybody.”