Beijing City has added 200 electric taxis to its taxi fleet. The Beijing Auto E150EV taxis, based on the Beijing Auto E-series, will operate in Shunyi District to the northeast of Beijing proper. The project is chaired by the Shunyi District Department of Transportation, a government agency. The district has built a ‘New energy electric taxi operation center’ with 210 parking lots and 110 fast-charging points. The center is visible in the background.
Another 154 electric-taxi-only parking lots and 31 fast-charging points will be build throughout the district during this year. As for now, the taxis will only accept passengers traveling within Shunyi District, as there are no proper charging facilities anywhere else. The taxis will be busy anyway; Shunyi District has an area of 1,020 square kilometers (390 sq mi) and a population of about one million.
In the faraway future Beijing City wants to have 20 ‘new energy electric taxi operation centers’, so passengers can travel anywhere on electric power.
Back in November of 2012 CNC reported some 300 BAIC electric taxis being launched for service in the Minyun County and Pinggu district. The article didn’t mention what models they were…… Saab-based models perhaps?
good! Beijing start to move in the right direction…