Hybrid Highway: Hailing the Future

Well, it's little wonder many cab companies have embraced a car that gets excellent mileage in city driving. They also provide a nice testbed of technology as mentioned in the article, and hearing that many of them drive for hundreds of thousands of miles with little maintenance have helped to solidify the prius's reputation for reliability.

I personally didn't think much of a prius prior to owning one since at the time they were a bit out of my price range. Now I can't imagine ever going back to just a gas car, and will definitely get a plug-in hybrid or BEV for my next vehicle.

 

....we have a lot of hybrid/Prii taxis here too.
Tesla Model-S could work well for those black limo professional taxis, but I am not quite as optimistic about EV in taxi service. Vancouver must have cheap electricity?

 

I think there was a test with Leaf taxis somewhere. They weren't popular with drivers because of the charging downtime. Even with longer range, I think an EV taxi would need to be equipped with a swappable battery in order to be successful.

 

i wonder if he's as enthused about the gen III as gc and socrates?

 

I've run gen II's for a few years now as a cab driver, I wouldn't go back to a "normal" can.
In the time I've been running mine the City I work in has gone from having a few prius as cabs to now where we have 60% of the cabs being hybrid

 

50% of the cabs I see around here now are Prius V's

 

Last summer I was doing night shift work in vancouver. Driving through downtown on my way home at 2am, 100% of the vehicles i saw on the road were prius, me in my white prius v and all the yellow cabs, like some kind of hybrid utopia.

 

It is a mystery why *any* taxis are not hybrids.

Actually, it is not: perverse economic arrangements and subsidized fuel.

 

Subsidised fuel??? Where, not in the city I live in

 

Apologies for my parochialism -- I was thinking of the US.

 

I think Americans like hybrids because they have nothing inbetween. It's either a 5 litre gas guzzler OR a hybrid. There are few diesel offerings and the cost of diesel is much higher than petrol, more so than the difference here in the UK.

The hybrid is great in town but what is town traffic? The US has big wide roads in even the smallest of towns and the hybrids are ideal in that sort of use. The continued start stop and ducking and diving on the narrow streets of the UK still enable you to get good economy out of a hybrid but with higher levels of stress on the hybrid system. That's why both Socrates and I have suffered issues with our Prius as a taxi. The fuel savings really don't make up for the higher cost of the vehicle or the higher running costs.

In defense, the Prius was a popular ride with the passengers as it's so smooth and comfortable. Toyota now allow a warranty of upto 10 years inclusive on the HV battery with no mileage limit so long as you service the car with them. They also quote the replacement cost of the HV battery at only £800 which compares to the price of a clutch. So that should help alleviate concerns. Many towns are trying to encourage hybrids due to them being much cleaner than a Euro 5 diesel (though Euro 6 is now similar to a hybrid).

Overall, hybrids in the UK are still priced as a premium option or model and that needs to change to encourage further adoption. Saying that, 20% of all UK Toyotas are now hybrid and 25% of all Yaris are the hybrid option.

 

Ahh yes, sorry I forgot we were talking international, my bad

 

I think it is time for you to take a trip out of Yorkshire.

Our other car is a Honda Fit (Jazz, to you.) Solid 40 MPG(us) combined in our hands. We use it for light in-town driving 95% of the time, but this week we drove 500 miles RT (~ 800 km) to a neighboring state and averaged 50 MPG(us) by averaging low 60s MPH. The Honda has nowhere near the fuel economy versatility of a Prius (which gets 50 - 60 MPG pretty much anywhere,) but it is impressive to get 55 MPG in a Fit at 55 MPH, or economy in the high 40s at speeds I like to drive during long trips.

 

Is that battery replacement cost contingent on buying the warranty ? If not, it is a fantastic deal.

 

For TAXI use.

I am aware you have lots of smaller cars. I live in Yorkshire but about 5 miles from a massive US Airforce base. Every tenth car is an American car, including many US Honda Civics, US Audi A3's and a couple gen 2 US Prii and a Prius V that I've seen.You also have lots of ridiculously massive pickup trucks to add balance.

But you're not going to use a Honda Fit/Jazz as a taxi and the article was refering to vehicles used for taxi purposes.

 

I believe it's the cost of the battery and not installation;

Hybrid Cars FAQ | Frequently Asked Questions | Toyota UK

"It is extremely unlikely that a battery will need replacing. In the unlikely event that the hybrid battery does need to be replaced and the warranty has expired, the cost is approximately £800. An annual Hybrid Health Check at a Toyota Dealer is the best way to ensure you are safeguarding the health of your vehicle for years to come."

 

You are pointing out (again) that the US has less diesel choices than the the UK or the mainland. True, but there are a host of petrol cars in the 2 - 3L range that could be Taxi contenders. Just thinking of Honda and Toyota, an owner/driver might consider the Corolla, Camry, Civic, CRV or Accord.

Actually, IIRC the Vancouver BC taxi fleet correctly, most of the cars that are not hybrid are Toyota Corollas.

 

No taxi driver could afford to run a 3 litre petrol taxi here, nor a 2 litre petrol for that matter. $8 a US gallon focuses ones mind on fuel economy. A guy I worked with bought a 1.8 automatic petrol Toyota Avensis as a taxi (classed as a very small engine for you guys). It nearly bankrupted him only getting about 25 mpg UK. Compare that to about 34 mpg UK on a diesel or 48/50 mpg on a hybrid (excluding purchase costs etc). 9 mpg difference doesn't sound a lot and at $3.50 a gallon it isn't much, but at $8 it is when you multiply it by weeks and months. 9 mpg difference over 150 miles each day adds up.

So I hear what you're saying but even a 2 litre petrol would be classed as extravagant here these days. I do remember when I first started back in 2002 when we all drove 2 and 3 litre petrol Omegas, but that was when petrol cost pretty much the same for us then as it does for you now.

 

Amen to that.

So going back to N. America, if fuel jumped to $8/gallon taxis would be faced with a choice of either hybrids at up to 50 MPG(us) or ~ 2 Liter petrol cars rated up to 30 MPG(us) by EPA*

*No doubt taxis would get worse MPG overall -- I mention city EPA for comparison.