Problems behind the hybridization of London's famous taxi "Black Cab (Black Cab)"

A black car body taxi "Black Cab (Black Cab)" is a famous presence in London and England. The black cab is shifting to a hybrid car according to the flow of the times. The black cab that promotes hybridization seems to be driven to a situation where it is not only trying to become eco clean, but also to win the fierce battle.

London's iconic black taxis are going electric. Your move, Uber.
http://mashable.com/2017/07/11/london-black-taxis-electric/

On London's Streets, Black Cabs and Uber Fight for a Future - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/04/world/europe/london-uk-brexit-uber-taxi.html

A driver who clears the London taxi test said to be the most difficult in the world is allowed to take a black painted taxi called "Black Cab". Riding in the black cab is a testimony of the harsh test, meaning to collect stable revenue, free lifestyle and respect from the citizens of London.

What is the London taxi license test which is said to be "the world's hardest exam?" - GIGAZINE


Such a black cab is about to be reborn as a hybrid car from a conventional diesel car.

London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC: former The London Taxi Company) has announced a hybrid car called "TX".


TX can run completely with battery only to about 70 miles (about 110 kilometers) and can switch to gasoline and run about 400 miles (about 640 kilometers).


The design is classic, not breaking the image of the traditional black cab.



I adopt a double doors door. We can also load wheelchairs.


The price of TX is undecided, but The Guardian has confirmed from the taxi driver "I'm negotiating price around 50,000 pounds (about 7.4 million yen)". The cost of the conventional black cab was increased to 43,000 pounds (about 6.3 million yen), but since the hybrid car has good fuel economy, it can reduce the gasoline cost of 100 pounds (about 15,000 yen) per week That's why LEVC is appealing its advantages.


The change in the awareness of environmental problems from the diesel car with the problem of air pollution caused by NOx and SOx to the TX of the hybrid car is the reason behind it, but also due to the management state of the black cab driver who is struggling. Although it is a black cab that has earned a relatively expensive fare for selling high quality service, in recent years it is said that some drivers who can not make a living come out against Uber 's offensive of dispatch service.

Uber's service is so-called "white taku", a non-professional taxi driver is a service that ordinary people carry customers with a gap time, but it is becoming popular because the fare is cheap about 30% compared to black cabs I will. There are no tests and barriers to entry The number of Uber drivers has increased since the launch of the 2012 Olympic service in 2012, now more than 40,000, about twice the size of black cab drivers I will. For Uber's black cab with many white men, women and immigrants are many.

Black cab drivers who are threatening their lives have made Uber an enemy of their eyes, and there are also irregularities. According to The New York Times, many black cab drivers voted in favor of EU withdrawal in the Brexit issue, and the relationship between black cab and Uber is a miniature of British social problems of immigrant exclusion vs. immigrants I will.

Incidentally, LEVC which releases TX is also a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese automobile manufacturer Geely Vehicle. The economic situation on black cab seems to be said to be a miniature of British society.