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BBC:
Electric black taxis have hit London's roads under plans to improve air quality but critics say their cost will put drivers off "going green".
The cab costs £55,599 up from £45,000 for the newest petrol equivalent.
Chris Gubbey, boss of manufacturer the London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) insists the cab will "play a major role in helping to improve air quality".
The launch comes weeks ahead of rules requiring new cabs in the capital to be capable of emitting zero emissions.
More than 9,000 such taxis, roughly half the current black cab fleet, are expected on London's roads by 2021.
The £10K price difference should break even in two years of savings on fuel, less if maintenance costs are factored in. But will that make up for lost revenue from fares the cabs can't accept while recharging?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Immerman on Tuesday December 05 2017, @09:54PM (2 children)
One convenient way would be to make the fuel itself carry the cost - after all the car itself isn't the problem, it's the fuel its using. That's the principle behind a carbon tax. It has the benefit of also extending along the full supply chain, including sourcing the electricity for your EV.
Of course the flip side is that purchases are very often made based purely on sticker price, ignoring ownership costs - hence the fact that many people continue to buy super-cheap incandescent bulbs despite the fact that CFL or LED replacements will pay for themselves many times over within a year in saved energy costs.
Building the recycling/disposal costs into products sounds great - but in practice you probably need to build an even higher cost in, so that consumers can get a big enough "proper disposal rebate" to motivate them to do so. Recycling most things is already approximately free, even slightly profitable, in most cities in the US - and yet landfills continue to fill with recyclable materials.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday December 05 2017, @10:06PM
I like.
While I have total mastery over a few subjects,
Trump shows complete mystery over a lot of subjects!
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by isostatic on Tuesday December 05 2017, @11:58PM
We do this in the UK -- fuel prices for "regular" unleaded petrol is currently about £1.20 a litre, or about $6 per US Gallon. I believe current US prices are about $2.50.