London Taxi Firm Orders VW SUVs to Speed Up All-Electric Switch
London Taxi Firm Orders VW SUVs to Speed Up All-Electric Switch
(Bloomberg) --
Addison Lee Ltd., London’s largest taxi firm, will invest 160 million pounds ($219 million) to fully electrify its fleet by 2023.
To accelerate its transition, the closely held company is partnering with Volkswagen AG and rolling out ID.4 electric sport utility vehicles. Starting in November, the firm will add 200 fully electric vehicles a month to its fleet.
The 450 ID.4s Addison Lee has ordered initially will join more than 650 zero-emission taxis already in its fleet of about 4,000 vehicles. In June, the company agreed to acquire black-taxi service ComCab, positioning itself to benefit from an uptick in demand for rides as London emerges from lockdowns. It became the city’s largest private-hire taxi firm and same-day courier business when the deal closed in July.
To reassure drivers anxious about the lack of infrastructure to support the switch to EVs, Addison Lee said it’s looking for charging partners and will share more information about collaborations soon.
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