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Hybrid taxis are more and more common these days, but one hybrid model is represented by just two taxis. It's the Lexus RX400H, and Samuel Pekoh and Cliff Hammon-Adler are the only hacks with them. Even though the cars cost $46,000-52,000 each, Pekoh tells the NY Sun that his gas costs have dropped $45 to $20 daily. (Still, insurance is more expensive on the hybrid.) The cars come with DVD navigation systems and sun roofs, and neither driver has installed a partition. Hammon-Adler says, "Anyone who's going to buy a Lexus, they'd be crazy to put a partition in." Instead, they have a security camera.
There's also a high level of luxury taxi cab husbandry involved: The Lexus cabs are washed many times a week and food and drinks aren't allowed. The drivers won't even think of leasing their cars to others to offset costs. Hammon-Adler has also sworn off Crown Vics: "They shake and rattle like crazy - I've got 34,000 miles on my Lexus and it's still as tight as the day I bought it."
We've ridden in an hybrid SUV taxi (not the Lexus, though) and it was really nice and quiet. What do you think of the hybrid taxis? And Adler was named the city's safest cabby last year.
Photograph of the non-luxury hybrid Prius taxi cab by dM.nyc on Flickr, whose page has an interesting discussion about hybrid taxis in the city
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How come the mayor/city council won't require the TLC to convert to Hybrids?
52K for Lexus RX400h
25K for Ford Crown Vic
$25 savings per day
1080 days to offset price difference (not including insurance)
1095 days a car can be used a taxi
Good job posting a picture of a toyota prius and not the lexus your article is about.
Hybrid taxis should be MANDATORY. In fact, all cities in the U.S. should have a competition open to all to make the greenest, safest and best taxi. That way we would benefit from more efficiencies from a manufacturing and service standpoint. Mayor Bloomberg is crazy for not making New York a leader on this issue. The city should also spearhead cleaner bus legislation and ask for federal money to bury roads like the BQE to keep soot out of our homes and lungs. And just for good measure, how about banning ALL stretch limos from the city?
Anonymous, a car can be used as a taxi for five years. That's the cut-off date for suggested upgrades. Monetarily, hybrids pay for themselves over time as taxis, and environmentally, we're all better off.
"How come the mayor/city council won't require the TLC to convert to Hybrids?"
How would you like it if the mayor/city council required you to eat only organic food? And the organic food is only available at Whole Foods where the price is twice as expensive.
why does insurance cost more for a hybrid?
#6 Very bad analogy. This isn't about an individual's choice of what to drive, so what the hell is your point? Hybrids are cheaper in the long run, and there are many manufacturers that offer hybrid vehicles. Troy's post is spot on, there is no reason why the city shouldn't regulate this, in fact they should, given how bad air pollution is in the city, and the TLC is a city agency after all.
Anybody see the cop car posed as a taxi cab pulling people over?
Based on nothing but my own imagination, I would imagine that insurance is more expensive for hybrids because they are harder to repair in case of a problem or accident (fewer of them means that fewer mechanics are very familiar with their systems and that fewer parts are available). Based on this, as hybrids become more prevalent, their insurance rates relative to other cars should decline. Can someone please correct me if I'm wrong?
why does insurance cost more for a hybrid?
Hybrid vehicles cost more to fix. The parts are more expensive. Fewer dealerships are qualified to fix them. You cannot go to your local autoparts store and ask for a electric motor for your hybrid.
and there are many manufacturers that offer hybrid vehicles.
No. Currently only Toyota/Lexus and Honda have hybrid vehicles. Ford/Mercury uses Toyota's system.
It seems the unavailability and expense issues are a microcosm for the US in general re: greater use of hybrids. If we had leaders in office who truly pushed for these things they would be the rule. Not overnight, but on a timetable that saw progressive advancement rather than piecemeal like the TLC is offering. But when you have such a skewering toward short-term profits as is the case currently then you get only drips and drabs. When they make it so there's a profit to be made then the automakers/autoparts/service industries will be there. Let's hope the air is still breathable.
Personally, I'd love to have one of those Camrys.
Some more context:
The Prius and the Escape are both in the $25-30K range. The Toyota Highlander Hybrid, which is also on the street here, is a cheaper version of the Lexus. There are a couple of Camry hybrids out there, too.
(And to #11, in fact Ford did develop their own hybrid system. The problem was that they did it too late, and found that some of their innovations infringed on Toyota's patents. Rather than fight, they paid a license fee to the folks in Japan.)
It was David Yassky's bill that forced TLC, which must approve any model before it can be used as a cab, to grant its blessings to the various hybrids in 2005. Operators also get a discount on the price of the medalion. There are just shy of 300 on the streets now. There are rumblings of further intentives in the works, such as letting the hybrids stay on the street longer.
In a city where the air routinely violates federal health standards, it's all a step in the right direction.
there are currently five manufacturers (toyota, lexus, honda, ford and mercury) offering ten distinct vehicle lines (prius, insight, civic, escape, accord, rx400h, highlander, mariner, camry, gs450h) in the U.S. market.
This year, there will be six more car builders (nissan, chevrolet, gmc, mazda, dodge, saturn) bringing seven new model lines to market.
2008 to 2010 will see four more companies (hyndai, porsche, mercedes, vw) in the hybrid gas/electric market, with models at all levels of car classes.
All the other manufacturers not listed (for example, BMW, saab, subaru, audi, etc) have prototypes in the works and are expected to release either hybrid gas/electric vehicles in the next 2 years, or, as is the case with bmw, a gas/hydrogen fuel cell hybrid.
so, there are plenty of options and technolgies out there right now to make this happen. the only thing slowing the process are hypocrites and naysayers and trolls like posters #6 and #11 who are more often than not part of the oil industry or their offshoots, or just conservative assholes.
who killed the electric car?
How would you like it if the mayor/city council required you to eat only organic food? And the organic food is only available at Whole Foods where the price is twice as expensive.
How would I like it if a city organization was told by the city to listen?
How would I like it if the government told me what I can and cannot eat, where I can shop and what I can buy there?
Not synonymous by any stretch of the imagination.
there are currently five manufacturers (toyota, lexus, honda, ford and mercury) offering ten distinct vehicle lines (prius, insight, civic, escape, accord, rx400h, highlander, mariner, camry, gs450h) in the U.S. market.
CORRECTION: Toyota and Lexus is the same manufacture. Ford and Mercury is the same manufacture. So you mean there are currently five brands under THREE manufactures offering 10 NON-DISTINCT vehicle lines (RX400h and Highlander are the same, Mariner and Escape are the same)
This year, there will be six more car builders (nissan, chevrolet, gmc, mazda, dodge, saturn) bringing seven new model lines to market.
CORRECTION: Chevrolet, GMC and Saturn are different brands under GM. Mazda is owned by Ford. So it's actually THREE more car builders.
so, there are plenty of options and technolgies out there right now to make this happen.
CORRECTION: There are many BRANDS offering very few technologies and even fewer options.
the only thing slowing the process are hypocrites and naysayers and trolls like posters #6 and #11 who are more often than not part of the oil industry or their offshoots, or just conservative assholes.
I guess anyone who dissagrees with you is a TROLL? Conservative asshole I'm not. You on the other hand is just an asshole period.
Meaning less car smoke on the street.
#17: This is more a reflection of the fact that there are very few competitors in the American car market to begin with than a reflection of the scarcity of hybrids.
Let's face it --- for auto manufacturers, the economies of scale are excellent, and it actually makes sense to have fewer manufacturers.
Just because one manufacturer has multiple brands under its umbrella does not mean that its product offerings are not diverse (even if multiple brands share technologies to offset the insanely expensive R&D costs of developing a hybrid). Nobody is going to mistake a Volvo for a Ford, and nobody is going to mistake a Chevy for a Saab (although the latter example is quickly diminishing, given that GM seems to want to kill Saab and that they haven't had a decent car since they retired the old Model 900 back in the early ninties)
Kinda like how Ford has killed Jaguar.