CyberWorld

In brief: Lotus Engineering, London Taxis International and Intelligent Energy have teamed up to collaborate on a hydrogen-powered taxi fleet to be ready for the 2012 Olympics.

Vehicle in the news

Make/Model: London Black Cab
Manufacturer: Lotus

The word

The Lotus, LTI, and Intelligent Energy collaboration will take the chassis for the famous London Black Cab (made by Lotus) and replace the power train with a hydrogen fuel-cell electric version. Lotus says they chose the HFC option over battery electric because of weight, range, and size restrictions - batteries would just take up too much boot space to be practical.

Most of the HFC components will be under the bonnet and floorboards of the taxis, giving them a top speed of 81mph, a 0-60mph in 14 seconds, and a 250 mile range per tank of H2.

Intelligent Energy has developed and manufactures the fuel cells to be used. No word on how large the fleet will be, but the Black Cabs Go Green initiative calls for 20-50 taxis to be alt-fuel powered before the Olympics begin. 150 hydrogen-powered buses will also be on hand for the 2012 Games in London.

And so ...

Fleets are definitely the way to go when incorporating, testing, and introducing new technologies like HFCs.

Photo credits: The Guardian