Hybrids shouldn’t be taxicabs, commission warns

[Tideland Prius]

This has to be the most bovine fece'd article I've ever read. Talk about putting words in people's mouths.

New York, New York - The Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade in New York Ciy has said that Toyota and Honda have issued “outright warnings” against using their hybrid passenger vehicles as commercial taxicabs. The board also said that Ford, General Motors and Nissan “have refused to certify the crashworthiness of their hybrid New York taxicabs as modified with mandatory partitions”, and that the automakers have shifted responsibility to the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC), which then shifts it to the federal government, which does not require automakers to crash-test vehicles modified with the bulletproof partitions.

In late 2007, the TLC mandated that all new taxis, the vast majority of which are required to have partitions, must be hybrids or other vehicles that achieve US25 mpg (9.0 L/100 km), which disallows the purpose-built stretch Ford Crown Victoria taxicab. The Metropolitan Taxicab Board has mounted a legal challenge, citing a 2008 engineer’s report that finds hybrids to be unsafe and unfit as New York City cabs. The mandate has been delayed and a federal court ruling is expected later this month.
On August 29, 2008, Richard Emery, an attorney for the Metropolitan Taxicab Board, wrote to automakers requesting that they certify their hybrids or manufacturer-approved alternative-fuel vehicles to be safe when modified with partitions or other TLC requirements. In its response, Honda said that “Honda vehicles are not sold or recommended for use as taxicabs.” Emery said that in July 2008, the TLC issued an industry notice that the Honda Civic Hybrid is one of nine approved vehicles for taxi use.

Emery said that Toyota has not officially responded; the TLC report approves the Prius, Highlander and Camry. Nissan offered no crash test results on modified Altimas, while Ford acknowledged that “there is an increased risk for belted occupants to contact the partition in a collision” and would not certify the crashworthiness of Escape Hybrids with partitions. General Motors refused to certify the crashworthiness of the Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid when modified with a partition and did not mention the Saturn Vue Hybrid, which appears on the TLC’s approved list.

The TLC has confirmed that it does not crash-test hybrid taxicabs modified with partitions and said that it relies in large part on federal testing to assert the safety of hybrid taxicabs. However, it has been established that there are no federal crash tests for hybrid taxicabs modified with partitions, and there are no front or rear crash tests in unmodified hybrids for adult rear occupants, which comprise the majority of taxi passengers. The board said that hybrid automakers explictly warn against any modifications to hybrid vehicles in the owner manuals.

Issues:

1.

"The Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade in New York Ciy has said that Toyota and Honda have issued “outright warnings” against using their hybrid passenger vehicles as commercial taxicabs."

Toyota has not officially responded . So did they or did they not issue "outright warnings"?

2.

The board said that hybrid automakers explictly warn against any modifications to hybrid vehicles in the owner manuals.

Clearly the board is stupid. All vehicles warn against modifications to the vehicle, particularly with non-<insert manufacturer here> approved parts

3.

Honda said that “Honda vehicles are not sold or recommended for use as taxicabs.”

No kidding. It's for public consumption. Toyota makes a taxi and it's called the Crown Taxi LPG but doesn't sell it here. Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi taxis in Asia are just converted standard passenger cars. As far as I know, only Toyota has a dedicated taxi vehicle.

[darelldd]

Wow. That's about all I can say. Wow.

Ok, I can say more... so they're saying that if you add a partition to a car designed without one, that somebody could... just maybe... bang their head on it. And from this we learn that hybrids, as a class of vehicle, are unsafe?

[dogfriend]

Have you ever been a passenger in a taxicab where you felt completely safe? I haven't. Its the scariest form of transportation available in the US.

[justlurkin]

The Taxi Board of Trade is the private association of NYC livery owners which works to benefit the taxi companies.

They are filing that stupid lawsuit because they don't like having to spend $30,000 to acquire each hybrid taxi cab when they used to be able to buy a retired police Crown Victoria for $6000 and put it into service as a cab.

I hope they lose that suit. Considering that the Escape Hybrid has been in use as taxi cabs here in NYC since 2004, and the Escape Hybrids haven't fared any worse than the conventional cabs (Crown Vics, Siennas and Odysseys) in accidents.

[jelloslug]

Originally Posted by Tideland Prius

No kidding. It's for public consumption. Toyota makes a taxi and it's called the Crown Taxi LPG but doesn't sell it here. Honda, Nissan and Mitsubishi taxis in Asia are just converted standard passenger cars. As far as I know, only Toyota has a dedicated taxi vehicle.

The Ford Crown Victoria stretch is pretty much a dedicated taxi vehicle. I don't even know if it available outside of fleet sales. Also, the Crown Taxi is just an old Toyota Crown that they still make for taxi service. At one time it was a normal car.

[nyty-nyt]

Vancouver has used hybrid taxis for years, and I haven't heard of any problems.

Perhaps a quick email or call there would have been enlightening.

On the other hand, Canadian cabs don't segregate the driver from the passengers with a crash-unfriendly plexiglass-and-steel-tube barrier.

[jeffreykb]

Wow!...so much material for a conspiracy theory exists here. It appears simple to me. The taxi operators are fighting a requirement to make a long term investment in a hybrid vehicle. Such investments are probably not the typical business model for taxi operators...especially small operations. Also, I would guess that some concern exists about maintaining/repairing a hybrid vehicle. I would think that assuming the taxi operators did not use an auto dealership for servicing their vehicles is not a stretch.

[MikeSF]

Two things come to mind... US Automaker's are deep in the pockets of the Taxi Commission, especially for one of those most taxi dense areas in the country.

And, if taxis are really that much at risk from a crash, maybe there's a bigger problem then the crash worthiness?

[PriusSport]

You are going to get a lot of status quo resistance anytime you go through a paradigm change--which is what cars (and really, the whole energy industry) are going through right now. ICE cars are pretty much dinosaurs, but the car industry is still loaded with them. So hybrids have to be downplayed.

[hyo silver]

Strange, Prius taxis seem to be working just fine here. I guess the dozen or so companies using them didn't get the memo.