Contactless EV taxi fleet to be trialed in Sydney
Chinese-built compact electric SUVs will be billed as ‘zero contact, zero emissions’ COVID-safe transportA fleet of e-taxis set to offer ‘zero contact’ transport is set to be launched in parts of Sydney in the coming months, as part of a ‘Clean Air Taxi’ initiative by the ETaxiCo start-up.
However, delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have pushed back the launch of the first batch of electric compact SUV taxis by at least a month.
The taxis are built by Chinese car-maker BYD and have been imported by Nexport – parent company of ETaxiCo – which plans to have an initial fleet of 120 e-taxis in operation in Australia in the near future, eventually extending to 2000.
According to TheDriven, the program already has the support of Michael Regan, the mayor of Northern Beaches – the council area in which the e-taxi fleet will operate via three sites during the six-month trial.
The initiative will also help accelerate the rollout of EV charging infrastructure, according to the managing director of ETaxiCo’s parent company Nexport, Luke Todd.
“As part of our initiative we are also working with charging infrastructure companies to roll out increased charging support for our vehicles which could also be used for public charging,” he said.
“The rapid uptake of taxi deployment we see as being a contributor to national networks.”
Todd says the company also hopes the program will “encourage a return to using taxis”, which he said had already been declining before COVID-19 due to ride-sharing companies such as Uber.
“We believe it will inspire the taxi market to move organically [towards EVs] instead of ICE or hybrid,” said Todd.
Along with its promise of zero emissions travel, Nexport has also incorporated a capsule-style system inside each vehicle to separate the driver, passenger and rear-seat occupants in an effort to minimise the risk of transmitting COVID-19.
Stay tuned for more information on the ETaxiCo launch in the coming weeks.
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