Geely, the Chinese automaker that co-owns the company that produces black London taxis, has met UK government officials about bringing electric-powered cabs to the UK capital.

"One of our ideas is to convert London taxis into electric," Li Shufu, the company's chairman, told the Financial Times. "We are doing research on this project."

Geely owns about 23 per cent of Manganese Bronze, the Coventry-based producer of black London cabs, and 51 per cent of a Shanghai-based joint venture with the UK company that will produce the cars in China starting this December.

Mr Li said that he had discussed the idea of electric taxis in London with Boris Johnson, the city's mayor, at the Beijing Olympic games in August. Mr Johnson supports the idea.

Manganese Bronze this year signed a research and development agreement with Tanfield Electric Vehicles to develop all-electric plug-in taxis. Manganese Bronze's share price has slumped in recent weeks after hundreds of its TX4 cabs were taken off the streets following a series of engine fires.

Geely, like China's other rising automakers, is developing its own plug-in hybrid and electric cars, including an electric version of its Panda city car that it may seek to sell in Europe. Mr Li said developing electric vehicle technology would be a major strategic focus for the company in future.

Geely's plan to build London taxis in Shanghai is one of a string of investments by Chinese companies seeking to apply low-cost production to iconic overseas assets.

Rival carmaker SAIC recently relaunched production of MG TF sports cars in Longbridge and makes the Roewe brand of cars in China largely based on tools and designs formerly owned by bankrupt MG Rover.

LTI Shanghai Automobile, the JV, plans to sell the Shanghai-built cabs to taxi operators, hotels, and other buyers in China and overseas, with a view eventually to building 10,000 vehicles a year.

The Chinese operation will also supply parts produced at a lower cost to LTI's flagship operation in the UK.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/79089ff4-9e3f-11dd-bdde-000077b07658.html

Six-month trial will allow cabbies to pick up and drop off fares in certain areas that have been off limits to them.
Steve Hymon, Road Sage
July 17, 2008
The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a six-month test program Wednesday that will allow taxicabs to pick up fares at more places in downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood. Here's how downtown Councilwoman Jan Perry put it after the momentous vote: "Common sense has prevailed. Now we can hail a cab like they do in other cities."

Yes, she was being sarcastic. Like others, she thought this was something the city should have done a long time ago.

The new rules allow taxis to stop for or drop off customers in red zones and curb lanes that the city has designated as anti-gridlock zones — as in, no parking there during rush hour. Cabs are also now allowed to double-park to pick up or drop off a client. The one place they're not allowed to go is bus stops — something that has been a sticking point between the city and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for the last few months.

And the effect of this? Will Los Angeles be as cab-friendly as New York, where it's a bit of a time-honored tradition to get honking drunk, stumble out to the curb at 3 a.m., raise your arm and flag a cab for a safe and subway-free ride home?

But serious differences remain between the cab culture in America's two largest cities. New York has more than 13,000 cabs. Los Angeles has about 2,300. A typical cabby in New York can get about 50 fares a day; in L.A. it's about 20. Fewer than half the residents of Manhattan own cars — meaning they're transit dependent. Car ownership rates are far higher in L.A. And because there are more cabs and more customers in New York, fares are lower.

For example, a five-mile cab ride in New York costs about $12 to $14, plus surcharges. A similar ride in L.A. is about $20, and that doesn't count the 10% fare increase that goes into effect later in the summer.

William J. Rouse, the general manager of Administrative Services Co-Op, a company that runs five local taxi services, said the big advantage of the test program is that it will encourage taxi drivers to pick up more short-trippers. At present, most cabs wait at designated pickup zones — usually hotels. If they get a short ride, they're stuck driving back to a hotel with little hope of getting a fare, and then they must go to the back of the line.

"The old rules that applied to taxis were the same ones that applied to private vehicles," Rouse said, pointing to the fact that those rules pretty much prevent taxis from doing what taxis do best — pick up people looking for a ride.

I asked Edward Torossian, a cab driver in L.A., how the program would affect him.

"We don't want to stop" and block traffic, Torossian said. "We just need to stop so we can pick up someone and go."

The program will begin soon and continue for six months so the city can evaluate whether taxis picking up fares cause massive regional gridlock or perhaps help people get along. If it works, officials say, it may be applied to the rest of the nation's second-largest city.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-roadsage17-2008jul17,0,4342617.column