NEW YORK, United States – To celebrate Earth Day, Nissan and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg today launched a new electric vehicle taxi pilot with the world's bestselling electric car, Nissan LEAF.
This pilot program, which puts six LEAF taxis into service beginning this spring, will help Nissan, the city, the taxi industry and the public understand how zero emission vehicles can be integrated into future taxi fleets.
Joe Castelli, vice president, Nissan Commercial Vehicles, Nissan North America said: "As part of our commitment to zero emission vehicles for the mass-market, Nissan is looking for ways to broaden the use of electric cars, including commercial applications like taxis. Following the selection of Nissan NV200 as New York City's Taxi of Tomorrow, our relationship with the city provides us the ultimate proving ground to conduct this LEAF taxi pilot to help optimise the use of electric vehicle technology for future applications."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said: "Even though the Taxi of Tomorrow won't be on the road for another six months, we're already looking ahead to the taxi of the day after tomorrow. Nissan's proven track record with electric vehicles will put us ahead of the curve in helping us answer important questions about incorporating electric taxis into the fleet so that we can achieve the goal of a one-third electric taxi fleet by 2020."
As part of the pilot, Nissan and partners in New York City will also install several CHAdeMO-based DC quick chargers, which will enable drivers to re-charge their electric taxis quickly during their shift. With quick charging, Nissan LEAF can be recharged to about 80 per cent in under 30 minutes.
Video of the Nissan LEAF Taxi can be found at: http://nissannews.com/en‐US/nissan/usa/releases/nissan‐leaf‐taxi
About Nissan
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Japan's second-largest automotive company, is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, and is part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Operating with more than 248,000 employees globally, Nissan provided customers with more than 4.8 million vehicles in 2011, generating revenue of 9.4 trillion yen ($94.4 billion AUS). With a strong commitment to developing exciting and innovative products for all, Nissan delivers a comprehensive range of models under the Nissan and Infiniti brands. A pioneer in zero-emission mobility, Nissan made history with the introduction of the Nissan LEAF, the first affordable, mass-market, pure-electric vehicle and winner of numerous international accolades, including the prestigious 2011-2012 Car of the Year Japan and 2011 World Car of the Year Awards.
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