Inside London's new hybrid black cab – complete with WiFi and panoramic sunroof

new TX5 electric London black cab driven 30/11/17
Cabbie Wiseman gets to grips with the new London taxi. In all respects, it's a huge improvement on its predecessor - for driver and passengers Credit: Julian Simmonds

This is easily the most important car of 2017. We’ve seen some momentous launches over the past 49 weeks - there’s been a new Ford GT, Land Rover Discovery, BMW 5-series, even a new Rolls-Royce Phantom. Andrew English has driven the Alpine A110, the hybrid Range Rover and the Bentley Continental GT in the past month alone, but this - a low-volume, six-seater, British-built hybrid - is of vastly more significance than all of the above combined.

It’s the new London taxi, or black cab, set to replace the decrepit fleet of smoke-belching fossil-fuel cars that the capital has endured since its reluctant unhitching from the horse more than a century ago. The current design was around for 20 years, its predecessor nearly 40 - obviously incremental changes were made to these extraordinarily long-running models, but not with the rapidity and impact found elsewhere in the automotive world.

Like many things in London, black cabs have have always strayed across the line between “traditional” and “ropey”.

From where I’m sitting, in the back of one of the TX5 hybrid black cabs, that’s about to change. The new model is a cleverly engineered petrol-electric hybrid with all the trappings of practicality demanded by the modern Londoner - USB charging, a ramp and tethering points for wheelchair users, WiFi, a three-prong plug socket and well-proportioned, comfortable seats.

new TX5 electric London black cab driven 30/11/17
Familar yet utterly different: the TX5 is set to replace the decrepit fleet of smoke-belching fossil-fuel cars that pound the capital's streets Credit: Julian Simmonds

Six of them, to be precise. There’s room for half-a-dozen human passengers in the new taxi cab, three across the traditional forward-facing bench seat at the back, and another three on slightly offset folding single seats opposite, mounted to the middle bulkhead between driver and fare. It’s all very familiar but vastly improved - something which can accurately be said of nearly the whole design.

The panoramic sunroof is probably the nicest new addition. It fills the cabin with warm light and allows for an almost unique perspective on London’s historic architecture, much of which starts on the first or second storey anyway. Autumnal leaf fall (read: pigeon poo) will surely clutter this charming vertical vista after a few weeks’ trundling, but it’s still my favourite feature of the new cab. It’s unusual in that its purpose is to make passengers happy - a charming rarity in this sort of product design.

Obviously this is a machine built for the high-milage rigour of public life, so you don’t get the soft-touch fabrics found in consumer vehicles. Instead, everything’s very grey, with flashes of yellow on the important bits for visually impaired passengers.

new TX5 electric London black cab driven 30/11/17
The panoramic sunroof affords views of London's architecture Credit: Julian Simmonds

It still manages to look very smart and a few minutes’ judicious prodding suggests that it’ll probably be resilient to the worst its occupants can throw at it. A couple of flimsy-looking plastic parts on the ceiling are apparently pre-production items, and the door closes with the reassuring thunk of a Volvo’s boot lid.

There’s a reason for that. The London Electric Vehicle Company, formerly the London Taxi Company, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co Ltd, which also owns a certain Swedish car manufacturer.

As a result, many of the new black cab’s mechanics are from Volvo or its suppliers, including the 1.5-litre petrol engine, electric drive components and rear suspension. I don’t know whether Volvo provided the aforementioned thunk but it’s fair to assume that some knowledge was shared.

new TX5 electric London black cab driven 30/11/17
The driver's area borrows heavily from the Volvo parts bin, which is no bad thing Credit: Julian Simmonds

Gothenburg’s influence is more overt from the driver’s seat. The difference between this and that of the old car is immediately apparent, the previous generation being among the least ergonomic spaces ever produced for a human to occupy. Visibility is good, the chair itself is comfortable (borrowed from Volvo’s upmarket V90) and the whole interface resembles a car rather than a haphazardly-designed, hand-built commercial vehicle.

Even more noticeable is the infotainment system, a portrait touchscreen lifted straight from a Volvo. Frankly I don’t like the way so many of the car’s features are controlled using this interface, and I far prefer physical buttons for functions such as air-conditioning and the radio, but this set-up is regrettably the way of the world, and Volvo’s is at least one of the better screens on the market.

Also available within the computer is a satnav system, until now the antithesis to cabbing in London but relevant pretty much everywhere outside the capital. I suspect that Geely needs a lot of sales beyond the M25 to make this model profitable.

new TX5 electric London black cab driven 30/11/17
The passenger area is thoroughly modern. It seats six: three across the back, and three in rear-facing, fold-down seats Credit: Julian Simmonds

Very few of you are going to drive the new car; fewer still will be interested to know about its dynamics from a sporting perspective. This is still a car best enjoyed from the back seats, and I will not waste too many column inches on my driving impressions, especially after such a brief road test. But it’s important to point out how well-suited a hybrid powertrain is to London life - it allows brisk acceleration away from traffic lights, smooth progress between them, and comfy high-speed cruising for those rare traffic-free airport runs.

Plug-in hybrid cars are simple. There’s a battery which drives the electric motor which drives the wheels, like in a fully electric car, but this battery can be charged using a built-in engine that acts as a generator and some “regenerative” brakes that recharge the battery as you slow, as well as by plugging the car into a socket.

The result is a car that can be topped up with electricity or unleaded petrol, and which can run on a mixture of the two depending on the driving mode you select.

new TX5 electric London black cab driven 30/11/17
The electric drivetrain, with a 1.5-litre petrol internal combustion engine range-extender, has three drive modes  Credit: Julian Simmonds

In the case of the TX5, there are three main settings. The first is what I anticipate cab drivers will use on their way from their homes in the suburbs to the centre of town. It keeps as much electricity in the battery as possible by topping it up with the engine, as it discharges into the electric motor to provide drive.

The second allows the car to make its own choices about where it derives its energy.

The third minimises the amount of time the petrol engine is switched on, reducing the emissions to zero for up to 70 miles.

I’m not being unkind or untrusting by taking this figure with a generous pinch of salt. I’ve yet to find a car manufacturer to be completely upfront about its hybrid powertrains in terms of either electric range or fuel consumption, and my brief stint in this particular model didn’t allow me to put either to the test.

new TX5 electric London black cab driven 30/11/17
As with privately-owned electric cars, the lack of charging infrastructure could cause a few headaches Credit: Julian Simmonds

But what I’m more worried about at this stage is the small number of plug sockets available for cabs in the city - we’re talking double figures this year, with a plan to grow to more than 100 by the end of 2018. I’d be incredibly surprised if this was enough to keep a PHEV fleet working at its most efficient, especially as - like most people in London - many cab drivers don’t have anywhere to charge a car at home.

Those early niggles aside, drivers are still expected to make savings. Leasing costs are £10 more per week, with projected fuel savings (again, from the manufacturer) amounting to about £100.

It’s also a real treat to drive - the steering is responsive rather than communicative, allowing for the balletic turning circle of under eight metres demanded by regulators (and the roundabout at the Savoy). Turning this car in the road takes no effort and produces no drama, even with a right foot prospecting for some discord in this rear-engined car. I’m sure someone will eventually get one of these two-tonne taxis to misbehave, but not me, and not in Regents Park on a weekday.

new TX5 electric London black cab driven 30/11/17
The styling is a clever, modern take on the instantly recognisable black cab shape Credit: Julian Simmonds

To the casual observer, it’s the aesthetic of the new taxi that matters the most. Looking not unlike an Austin FX4 that’s been microwaved for 15 seconds, the TX5 has clearly inherited the beltline of that car (the more pleasantly proportioned predecessor to the current design) as well as its upright silhouette. It’s certainly not ornate, and its headlights are perhaps an unsympathetic tribute to those of older cars, but it’s a pleasing machine befitting the streets of modern London.

A lot has been demanded of this new taxi. London is the most polluted it’s been for a long time and more congested than at any point in its history - we need to use its ancient streets in more sophisticated, efficient ways than we do now. This hybrid black cab is part of that process, a relatively small step in the direction of decarbonising transport and making London’s air safer to breathe.

THE FACTS

LEVC TX5

TESTED 33kwH battery pack plus 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol range extender, automatic gearbox, rear-wheel drive

PRICE/ON SALE £55,599/now

POWER/TORQUE 110kw/189lb ft

TOP SPEED 80mph (limited)

ACCELERATION 0-60mph in about 12sec

ECONOMY 217.3mpg claimed, 36.7mpg with engine on

CO2 EMISSIONS 29g/km with engine on, 0g/km in EV mode

VERDICT Roomier and comfier for its occupants, quieter and cleaner for everyone else in the city, London’s new black cab is an enormous improvement on the current model. Efficiency claims will need to be seen to be believed, however, and it’s hard to ignore that list price.

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