By BusinessGreen staff, Source: Business Green

London’s first fleet of electric taxis has come into operation today, four years ahead of Mayor Boris Johnson’s 2018 deadline for all new cabs to be zero emission.

The 20 e6 model taxis have been manufactured by Warren Buffet-backed Chinese company BYD, which launched London’s first electric buses less than two months ago.

The vehicles can travel 186 miles on a single charge and will be operated by chauffeur service Thriev, which is set to install charging points at its Edgware Road site powered by British Gas. The service will rely on a brand new city-wide charging network installed by the utility.

The new fleet is expected to be joined by a further 50 cars by July, after BYD signed a memorandum of understanding to supply minicab firm Green Tomato Cars.

The Mayor’s office says taxis account for around a third of all the exhaust emissions in London and from January 1 2018 Johnson wants all new taxis in London to be zero emissions, sparking a competition among manufacturers including BYD, Nissan, Metrocab, and the London Taxi Company to have electric models ready.

The electric vehicles are part of a wider range of green initiatives to tackle London’s air pollution problem.

Two single-decker electric buses hit London’s streets in December serving Victoria, Waterloo and London Bridge stations running on routes 507 and 521 with a further six set to be introduced over the course of this year.

London has also introduced zero emission hydrogen buses on the RV1 route between Covent Garden and Tower Gateway, is currently trialling 120 buses that run on used cooking oil, and intends to grow its 600 strong hybrid bus fleet to 1,700 by 2016.