Electric private hire fleet beats zero-emission London taxi deadline

A London private hire company has ordered 20 BYD e6 emission-free vehicles to add to its chauffeur-driven fleet.

BYD, which is bringing its range of pure electric private hire vehicles to Europe, has teamed up with Thriev to provide 20 BYD e6 cars to the company’s emission-free London chauffeur-driven fleet within the next few weeks.

Last month, the Mayor of London announced that from 1 January 2018, all new taxis would have to be zero-emission capable in order to gain an operating licence. Thriev's acqusition means that the London private hire market is four years ahead of that development.

Thriev offers low-cost, zero-emission, chauffeured cars to corporate and private users in London. The company is rolling out an electric car programme complete with its own rapid chargers, cars and state-of-the-art car/charger scheduling systems. Part of the deal with BYD is that Thriev will equip its facility at Edgware Road, west London, with BYD’s purpose-designed charging equipment, which allows fast charging of the e6 in just two hours.

Initially, the e6 fleet is being supplied on a lease arrangement, although both BYD and Thriev expect this to be the beginning of a long-term relationship that will go some way to fulfilling a joint BYD and Thriev vision of a ‘green city solution’ – the transitioning of key public and personal transport vehicles from petrol and diesel power to pure electric.

In December, two fully-electric, full-size buses operated by Go-Ahead Group, entered service on two central Transport for London routes – part of a Europe-wide initiative to introduce emissions-free BYD buses to major city centre operations.

Isbrand Ho, BYD Europe’s Managing Director, said: “We have been looking at various options to bring our e6 and its proven emissions-free technology to London. We are convinced that in Thriev we have found the right partner to do this – we share many of the same objectives of providing safe, reliable and efficient green transport in cities”.

Arvind Vij, CEO and a co-founder of Thriev said: “We think that BYD’s e6 model meets our requirements to offer passenger comfort, good range and rapid charging. We share BYD’s desire to provide practical, zero-emission solutions and look forward to a long-term partnership.”