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As our President is "trying" to work on the growing crisis of high gas prices (or are gas prices slowly going to where they need to be?), more and more people are turning to hybrid cars and we wonder if more and more taxi fleets will want to go green(er). Hybrids generallyget about 10 miles more per gallon than the standard Crown Vic. The new hybrid taxis took to the street last fall, but we hadn't seen one yet (we feel like we're seeing those large taxis from Newark more). Scott Nath sent us a picture of a snazzy Prius taxi spotted in the East Village - has anyone ridden in one? And the Prius gets 60 miles per gallon, that's 42 miles more than the Crown Vic!
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Cabs are gas guzzlers, but I get sick of hearing cabbies whine about gas prices given how they drive. Whenever the light turns green, they slam on the gas and then wait until the last second to slam on the brakes on red lights. Just by changing their driving habits, they could save several gallons per 12-hour shift.
It will beinteresting to see what happens this summer when people start wanting A/C in cabs. I predict at least one stabbing because of a fight over this.
The problem of a Prius taxi is room.
I can't imagine one with a partition.
I know there are CNG fueled Crown Vics, so perhaps Ford should come out with a hybrid model - all the room of a Crown Vic, but without the gas guzzler problem.
Now I seem to remember when I was a kid there were Peugeot 505 taxis roaming the streets of Gotham. I think they were diesel powered. Now I think most if not all the London taxi fleet is diesel powered. The London taxi would be perfect for New York, as they are quite roomy. Perhaps a biodiesel powered fleet of London taxis running off of oils fried foods were cooked in would be the best option for NYC.
I agree with Toby, the London taxis are even roomier than Crown Vics, and since the luggage goes in the main compartment Yo-Yo Ma won't forget his cello.
But this being New York, I propose ethanol rather than biodiesel for the fuel. hic!
I've ridden in the Ford Escape hybrid cab, and the only difference, the driver said, was at the pump, which he didn't frequent as often and which didn't burn his wallet as bad.
The Prius has remarkable interior room, closer to London than the Crown Victoria. Predicting the patriotic objection to Toyotas being foreign and not supporting the good ol' U S of A, unlike Ford's cars, Toyata assembles Priuses in the US and continues to open new plants, while Ford and GM slash and burn.
Still, the Prius boast that it gets 60 mpg is quite a bit higher than actual usage, particularly when you factor in the aforementioned driving habits of cabbies, which wastes a great deal of gas.
Hybrids are perfect for taxis. They recapture the energy lost in braking - which cabs do A LOT!
I'm not so sure about the EROEI (that's energy return on energy invested) of ethanol. You certainly don't want to invest a gallon of gas and only get 0.8 in return in corn derived ethanol. Brazil uses sugarcane which is much better than corn for ethanol. Cellulosic (dry plant matter like switchgrass) based ethanol is probably better.
stop using cars. This is the motherfucking city. It's like twice as fast using a bicycle than a car.
Not to mention the fact that hybrids pollute our "air" far less. A fleet of all-hybrid taxis might make it easier to breathe. What does the city have to lose by mandating them? And while we're at it, why not mandate taxis carry EZ-Pass, GPS and credit card machines?
Totally unrelated to the whole hybrid point here: The girl posing in that picture is FANTASTIC! I want to be friends with her. She's obviously hilarious.
I've heard that NYC gets pressure from the feds to make the fleet of taxis American made cars. I imagine that's especially true when republicans are in power.
To tom: Explain the French made Peugeot 505 taxis of the 1980s?
I scoured the web and can't find any evidence that Toyota assembles any Prius models in the United States. Perhaps they are planning to but please cite a source for your information. I did find an article that mentions Toyota will start assembling them in China.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/worldbiz/archives/2005/08/05/2003266540
And another that says eventually they will assemble hybrid Camrys in Kentucky although the first models will come from Japan.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/02/2007_toyota_cam_3.php
I am going to do some searching when I have more time. However, I don't know that an articles exist that will confirm the Prius assembly in the USA.
"Toyota produces 10 vehicles in North America, including the Avalon, Camry, Corolla, Matrix, Sienna, Solara, Sequoia, Tacoma, Tundra and the Lexus RX 330. By 2008, Toyota will have the annual capacity to build about 2 million cars and trucks, 1.44 million engines and 600,000 automatic transmissions in North America."
The source for my quote is www.pressroom.toyota.com