PALO ALTO, California – Better Place has received an award from the Japanese government to conduct a pilot project in Tokyo for the world’s first electric taxis with switchable batteries. The California company is to partner with Tokyo’s largest taxi operator, Nihon Kotsu, in a project commissioned by the Natural Resources & Energy Agency of the Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry.
Japanese taxis represent a mere 2% of all passenger vehicles on the road in Japan, yet they emit approximately 20% of all carbon dioxide (CO2) from vehicles due to their average distance travelled in a given day. In Tokyo alone, there are approximately 60,000 taxis, a far greater number than in New York, Paris, or Hong Kong.
The electric taxi pilot scheme will involve the construction of a Better Place battery switch site at a location in the Roppongi Hills area in Central Tokyo. Up to four newly modified and fully operational electric taxis will be operated from an existing taxi lane for environmentally-friendly vehicles at the Roppongi Hills complex.
Tokyo taxis to test EV quick-change batteries
PALO ALTO, California – Better Place has received an award from the Japanese government to conduct a pilot project in Tokyo for the world’s first electric taxis with switchable batteries. The California company is to partner with Tokyo’s largest taxi operator, Nihon Kotsu, in a project commissioned by the Natural Resources & Energy Agency of the Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry.
Japanese taxis represent a mere 2% of all passenger vehicles on the road in Japan, yet they emit approximately 20% of all carbon dioxide (CO2) from vehicles due to their average distance travelled in a given day. In Tokyo alone, there are approximately 60,000 taxis, a far greater number than in New York, Paris, or Hong Kong.
The electric taxi pilot scheme will involve the construction of a Better Place battery switch site at a location in the Roppongi Hills area in Central Tokyo. Up to four newly modified and fully operational electric taxis will be operated from an existing taxi lane for environmentally-friendly vehicles at the Roppongi Hills complex.
More at www.betterplace.com