November 24, 2010 I wrote a BLOG entitled “CAB OF FUTURE: STILL YELLOW, BUT DIFFERENT”. In that BLOG I questioned how this new project fit in. I was not sure. It would be obvious if this "CAB OF THE FUTURE" was required to be a hybrid AND meet a stated minimum MPG. But such is NOT the case. In the September 20, 2012 WSJ the top title appears.
New York City taxi officials are expected Thursday to approve one of the most sweeping changes in years, ratifying the Nissan-built, NV-200 as the ONLY acceptable new yellow cab starting 2013. Conversion is to be completed within 3 years.
But when the Taxi and Limousine Commission make the Nissan NV-200 mandatory, it will set in motion an unintended change: The shift will drastically reduce the number of hybrid taxis on city streets—now almost half the fleet and what Mayor Michael Bloomberg hailed as a critical improvement in the industry just a few years ago. Roughly 6,000 of the city’s 13,237 yellow cabs are hybrids. Those vehicles would have to be phased out in favor of the non-hybrid NV-200, with the exception of roughly 1,000 that could be exempt for various reasons, including 273 whose medallions require that they be high-mileage vehicles.
Nissan won a 10-year contract in May 2011 to provide the exclusive taxi for the city. The TLC expects the NV-200 to get about 25 miles per gallon, compared with roughly 35 miles per gallon for a Ford Escape Hybrid. Supporters for the new plan say criticism is misguided. ----“I do think it’s absolutely true that the NV-200 is less fuel efficient than the Ford Escape,” said TLC Chairman David Yassky,” but on the plus side it’s much roomier, it’s safer for the passenger because the partition is built in and crash-tested. Since it so much more fuel efficient than the Crown Victoria (12 miles per gallon) and within striking distance of the Escape, we thought that’s an acceptable trade-off.”
In another BLOG the writer mentioned that Nissan has supplied nearly a dozen EV (electric only) versions of the NV-200 for evaluation. Specifically they are lower pollution than the conventional NV-200 and much lower fuel costs, BUT procedures for battery recharge have to be worked out. Another point is that the NV-200 could be HYBRID but will be much more costly and a 3-year use window (established by the TLC) reduces the fuel savings kitty.
INTERESTING---
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