Watch: The latest taxi to take to the streets of York has a surprise under the bonnet

There’s a new type of taxi on the streets of York.

It’s the first time an electric wheelchair accessible taxi has been seen in town.

Driver Lee McLaren from Acomb, who works out of the station rank, says it is an updated version of the famous London style cab but things are very different under the bonnet.

 

Lee says: “Well, unlike your conventional wheelchair accessible vehicles we have in York at the moment that are run on diesel, this is actually electric powered.

“So you plug it in at home overnight and then stop at charging points if you need to during the day.

So when it’s running totally on electric it’s zero emissions.

“BUT, If you do happen to run out of power there is a range extender which runs on petrol. It’s like your conventional hybrids, it actually powers the electric motor, so you can still continue driving.

“It generates power for the motor but it’s not charging the battery”

The new taxi is based on the traditional ‘London’ style cabs.

Lee says: They’ve kept the front end of the vehicle with the big grille and round headlights. It’s slighty bigger of course and is packed with modern features.

“It’s quite a iconic design and everyone obviously recognises it as a taxi.”

It even has a DAB+ Radio too so Lee can and his passengers can enjoy Ben and Laura at Breakfast on YorkMix Radio