Earth Day 2013 – New York City Starts Nissan Leaf Taxi Fleet Pilot Program

There is nothing in New York City more quintessential than the yellow NYC taxi fleet. This year on Earth Day, April 22^nd, the Nissan Leaf will begin service as an emissions-free taxi.

NYC Mayor Bloomberg arrived at the Rockefeller Center on the 22^nd to make a special announcement, and perhaps the best way to lead up to such an announcement is to arrive in the back of a new Nissan Leaf taxi, the first of its kind in NYC. Six donated Nissan Leaf electric vehicles will be put into a pilot program to test their viability as taxis, just as soon as the rest of the charging stations are installed.

The six Nissan Leaf taxis are standard production vehicles, the only additions being taxi meters and TV screens. While just six cars are part of the pilot program, what’s nice to see is there were over a hundred applications from owner-drivers and fleet operators. The interest is there, and there are fast-charging stations installed in strategic locations around Manhattan which could make such a zero-emissions fleet very effective.