It’s a landmark day for London and its thousands of taxi drivers and passengers as the very first all-new electric TX taxi from London EV Company (LEVC) has been handed over to a very eager and excited cabbie.
David Harris, 46, from Chingford in north-east London, has been a black-cab driver for 21 years and was one of the first to put down a deposit for the new electric taxi when order books opened in the summer of 2017.
Prior to being a cabbie, Harris was a professional tennis player, spending 40 weeks of the year travelling the world. These days, he tours the streets of London and in the new TX will be doing so in unrivalled comfort. As will his passengers, thanks to class-leading wheelchair accessibility and features such as on-board wifi, phone/laptop charging, a much more spacious cabin with six seats, wide-opening rear-hinged doors, contactless card machines and an expansive panoramic roof.
Taking delivery of his new TX at LEVC’s Brewery Road headquarters, Harris was delighted to receive the keys to the world’s cleanest, most advanced taxi ever, a revolution in the taxi market offering zero-emissions motoring thanks to eCity technology, which comprises of an advanced battery electric powertrain with a small backup petrol generator that gives a total range of up to 634km including 128km of pure electric driving.
Unlike the previous London taxi, the vehicle’s multi-filter system works to remove gases and particles from the incoming air. In addition, an in-built air quality sensor also automatically closes the external air intake if it detects increased levels of pollution in the outside air – protecting passengers, and the driver, from the capital’s often poor-quality air.
World-class active and passive safety systems will help to protect both the vehicle and other road users, too. These include forward collision warnings, autonomous emergency breaking and emergency brake assistance, while the TX combines an extremely strong, rigid aluminium bodyshell with crash protection to the highest international standards, reinforcing the black-cab trade’s reputation for safety.
Black-cab driver, David Harris, said: “I’m absolutely delighted to get the keys to my new TX electric taxi and there are two reasons I bought the cab. First, I can’t wait to see the response from passengers, I know that they’re going to love it. And second, I’m going to see some significant savings on running the electric taxi. Even though I can’t charge the vehicle at home, I should be able to charge the cab once a day at Heathrow. Combined with lower servicing and overall running costs, this means I should end up £500 to £600 a month better off before I even go out to work.” 
Read more about the new-age London Taxi.
