Fleet of electric cabs about to hit the road

Allied, a taxi company is going to use an Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator car that was developed in the Technology Strategy Board in Glasgow.

The development of the car was a joint effort by Scottish Power, Strathclyde University, the Glasgow City Council, and Axeon.

Managing director of Allied Paul Nelson commented that this is an exciting opportunity for the taxi company and that they hope it will help build the foundation for better public transport in the future since the car produces absolutely no emissions.

340 cars will be tested by trial companies such as Allied and families over a period of 18 months to study how effective the low CO2 emission vehicles actually are.

Scottish Power is the provider of the electric terminals that will allow users to charge vehicles at the cost of one to five pounds depending on the car and battery that is being charged. Three terminals will be provided at the City’s Concert Hall car park with a total of forty terminals available throughout the city.

Electric cars are expected to average about 80 to 100 miles per each charge which is much cheaper than the price of petrol per mile.

The Glasgow City Council is looking into other areas where electric vehicles can be used to reduce the amount of emissions that come from the area such as in cleaning trucks and electric bin lorries.
To aid in the project funding, the project received £1.8 million out of the £25 million that has been earmarked by the government for the reduction of CO2 emissions.

Trials will additionally be conducted in the West Midlands, Oxford, North East England, and London.