According to EV World, smog-choked Mexico City requires taxi companies to replace their rides by their (the taxi's) tenth birthday. This year alone, some 30k Mexican taxis will become autobanditos. Looking for green creds, Mayor Marcelo Ebrard has mandated that ten percent of the new, replacement taxis must be hybrids, ten percent must be electric vehicles (EVs) and ten percent must run on compressed natural gas. It sounds crazy, but thanks to the $8k hybrid premium, Mexico's warm weather and the average cabbie's 200km daily drive, EVs might just work. Hence a consortium of RUTAS UNIDAS (bus and cab operators), Electro Autos Eficaces de Mexico (EAE) and Azure Dynamics (AZD) is developing the eLECTROTAXI®. Like they had to lower case the "e". And while we're at it, let's call this thing what it is: a Nissan Sentra taxi conversion. In a refreshingly honest statement, consortium spearhead Victor Juarez G. (no relation to Kenny G) cautions against speculative announcements. Sr. G says that premature prognostications by Phoenix and Tesla have been harmful to the EV movement. Amén.
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In a related article, driving a taxi is getting tougher:
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3614
Ottawa passed a similar law a few years ago, mandating that all taxis had to be under 7 years old. The cabbies had quite a fit, considering the Crown Vics and Impalas can easily pass that age and run perfectly fine.
It’s just not a trip to Mexico without a ride in an old green beetle with no front passenger seat. I loved those things.