Mayor’s pollution pledge: Black cabs will go green by 2018

Black cabs must go green within five years, the Mayor of London announced today in a bid to tackle air pollution.

He told taxi makers that all new London cabs will have to have zero-emission capability to gain their official licence from January 2018. The deadline has been brought forward from 2020 as he seeks to replace diesel cabs, which contribute a third of emissions in the most traffic-choked areas, with hybrid or all-electric vehicles.

Greener taxis will be a step towards the Ultra Low Emission Zone in 2020, under which only zero-emission vehicles would be allowed on central London’s roads.

The number of electric charge points in the capital will quadruple to 6,000. Grants to help cabbies go green are expected to be available via the Government’s Office of Low Emission Vehicles and the Green Investment Bank. The Mayor gave the challenge at an exhibition of hybrid and all-electric taxis by five manufacturers, including a design by Royal College of Art graduates.

He said: “I’m making a firm pledge that from 2018 all taxis presented for licensing should be zero-emission capable. The evolution of the great London cab is well and truly under way.”

London Assembly Green Party leader Jenny Jones warned: “Our electric charging network is not up to the job. The Mayor should get on with meeting his original target of 25,000 charging points, and switch to non-polluting vehicles next year.”