Nissan's 'ugly duckling' taxi 07 | 01 | 2014
OK, IT MIGHT BE one of the ugliest cars you've ever seen, but this is the new taxi model Nissan will launch on to the London streets in December.
Priced from around £30,000, Nissan's purpose-built model is based on its NV200 platform, and the Japanese car maker believes the model has a number of advantages over the traditional TX4 London cab. It's fair to say, looks isn't one of them!
It may look, unceremoniously like a bread van, but Nissan says it does deliver notably lower running costs and a level of reliability ‘that comes from being derived from a global mainstream vehicle’ rather than a low-production bespoke vehicle.
Designed by Nissan’s London design studio in Paddington — it's is also set to undergo final assembly in the UK — the NV200 Taxi for London follows similar NV200-based taxis for New York, Tokyo and Barcelona. The base NV200 is made at Nissan’s plant near the Spanish city.
The distinctive flared front wings have to accommodate the wider track of a new front suspension system, which is unique to the London version of this Nissan. This was designed to meet the TfL 7.6m taxi turning circle regulations. The raised ride height also allows the car to offer the minimum 10in ground clearance requirement.
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And while the front of the NV200 includes a chrome-heavy front grille and round headlamps – the latter lifted from from the Nissan Juke — interestingly there's no Nissan badge on the front.
The NV200 does though deliver improved driver comfort for the taxi driver — thanks to the ‘superior’ seats and adjustable steering column — and the car is fitted with twin, wider, sliding rear doors for wheelchair access. The roof-mounted 'Taxi' sign is also LED which, apparently, is easier to see when illuminated during the day. Oh, and it also has a panoramic glass roof.
The new NV200 also hints that London's authorities are poised to squeeze oil-burning cabs off the roads over the next decade: the Nissan taxi will only be available with a 113bhp, 117lb/ft, 1.6-litre petrol engine mated to a CVT gearbox.
Though Nissan has yet to release official figures, it's understood the taxi will deliver 40mpg, with particulate (10mg/km) and NOx emissions emissions (1.0mg/km) significantly lower than traditional diesel taxis.
And with the current TX4 London cab tipping the scales at almost two tonnes, the Nissan's real world economy is expected to be much better.
It's also expected that a full electric version of the NV200 Taxi for London — using much of the battery and EV technology from the Leaf hatchback — will be launched by 2015.
The Nissan taxi may be being launched initially in London, but it won't be long before we start seeing them plying their trade on Scottish city centres: so be warned.
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Jim McGill