The world is moving toward electric vehicles FAST. Cars pushing out unwelcome emissions are becoming as popular as mud. Think "electric" going forward.
Join the Car Importers Club for the best "electric or hybrid" car deals.
Member Signup / Information.
More from the nextgreencar.com story about London taxis
Going forward, all taxis presented for licensing for the first time will need to be zero-emission capable (ZEC), with an official CO2 emissions figure of no more than 50 g/km, and a minimum zero-tailpipe emission range of 30 miles.
Transport for London (TfL) will also no longer grant first-time licences for ZEC diesel taxis, with all petrol powered models required to meet the current Euro 6 standards.
The move is intended to help boost the number of electric and electrified models on the streets of London replacing conventionally powered models. TfL reports that the London taxi fleet - predominantly made up of diesels - contributed to 16% of all road transport NOx in the capital.
The current vehicle age limit of 15 years remains in place, so the cleaner fleet will be phased in to make sure that taxi drivers and fleet operators are not hit financially by the new regulations. As such, in 15 years time all taxis licensed in London will meet the current ZEC regulations as a minimum.
To meet the new requirements, applicants for a new first-time vehicle license must opt for an electric vehicle, either plug-in hybrid (PHEV) or pure electric - and few PHEVs meet the 30 miles zero-emission range limit.
Eligible models at the time of writing include all Plug-in Car Grant (PiCG) eligible pure-EVs and FCEVs. PHEVs to meet both the emissions and range criteria are limited to the Audi A3 e-tron, BMW's i3 REX, the Hyundai IONIQ Plug-In, all Kia PHEVs, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, Toyota's Prius Plug-in, VW's Golf GTE and Passat GTE range, and the new purpose-built LEVC TX.
With this greater onus on plug-in vehicles, TfL is rolling out 300 new rapid charge points throughout the capital by 2020 - 150 of which will be installed by the end of the year, and 90 of which will be for taxi use only.
TfL is also offering taxi drivers up to £5,000 off the cost of a new taxi by delicensing their current vehicle early. Applicants must have a car 10 years old or older and currently be licensed, amongst other criteria.
That's on top of the UK wide Plug-in Taxi Grant, which is worth up to £7,500 off the cost of a new purpose built taxi. Non-purpose built models are eligible for the Plug-in Car Grant, worth up to £4,500 for a pure-EV or hydrogen powered model, and £2,500 for PHEVs that meet the grant criteria.