Mexico's first electric taxis

Mexico's capital has taken delivery of the country's first all-electric taxi cabs under an agreement to promote eco-friendly vehicle use between Japan-headquartered Nissan Motor and the local government.
March 1, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Mexico's capital has taken delivery of the country's first all-electric taxi cabs under an agreement to promote eco-friendly vehicle use between Japan-headquartered 2454 Nissan Motor and the local government.

The government of Mexico City intends to provide incentives such as excluding electric vehicles from the emissions verification programme, waiving yearly car registration, permitting them to travel in special lanes and offering preferential parking spots in a bid to encourage usage of electric vehicles. By the end of this year, the programme plans to deploy 100 new electric vehicles and a second quick-charge station.

Marcelo Ebrard, Mayor of Mexico City, together with Nissan and US-based 3500 General Electric, the supplier of the quick-charge equipment, launched the first three taxis into operational service last week. Increased use of electric vehicles in the city will certainly help reduce the eye-wateringly high smog levels. However whether battery powered vehicles will appeal to more than a handful of Mexico City's notoriously pedal-to-the-metal cab drivers remains to be seen.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Modern road system is 'a must'
    August 2, 2012
    Australia's GDP could see a major increase if traffic bottlenecks in big cities were to be removed, and the government is addressing this as a matter of urgency A modern road system is a must in Australia where it is estimated that the removal of traffic bottlenecks could potentially raise the country's GDP by 0.8%. According to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), which made the prediction, infrastructure bottlenecks (particularly in cities, which account for over 70% of the country'
    Read More
  • TISPOL Conference: autonomous vehicles high on safety agenda
    February 2, 2017
    Safety and autonomous vehicles exercised the minds of some of Europe’s senior police officers at the recent TISPOL European Traffic Police Network Conference in the UK. The European Union looks like missing its target of halving the number of people killed on its roads each year by 2020. Just when European police forces are trying to get back on target, along comes the autonomous vehicle with all its inherent safety issues.
    Read More
  • Ireland releases National Cycle Network plan
    January 17, 2024
    There are 85 corridors of routes designed to integrate future and existing greenways and other cycling infrastructure, such as the Eurovelo routes.
    Read More
  • Ethiopia races on with projects
    June 13, 2012
    Ethiopia is pursuing a 10-year $2.4 billion development plan, part of which are ambitious road developments. Shem Oirere reports Ethiopia is hastening its pace towards accessing a share of the East Africa commodity market and opening itself up for foreign investment through the implementation of an ambitious road development strategy, the Road Sector Development Programme (RSDP). The landlocked nation has convinced a number of international lenders of the viability of RSDP, with some of them now loosening
    Read More

Highlighted Content