Thumbs up, Thumbs down? The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission will be picking a new and updated model to be the IT car for the 2014-2024 NYC 
Taxi, later this fall. The Taxi and Limousine Commission closed its Request for Proposals for the “Taxi of Tomorrow” on May 27, 2010. One design getting a lot of press is the UniCAB from the Australian UniCAR group. Currently in NYC, the Ford Crown Victoria is the IT taxi and represents the majority of the taxis currently in the NYC Taxi fleet.
In 2005, in an attempt to be more environmentally sustainable and energy efficient City Hall and the Taxi and Limousine Commission established regulations for all New York City Taxis which will require them to get 30 miles to the gallon by 2012. As a result, over the past five years, there has been a move to gas-electric hybrids, which now represent around 8% of the NYC Taxi fleet. The “Taxi of the Future” will need to meet these requirements and likely even tighter ones.
The question will be, whether a new car company that is introducing a unique plug-in electric only model, of which only prototypes currently exist, can win out over other more established car companies that are presenting already established gas/electric hybrid models? The UniCAB company is the “scrappy underdog”, with a unique and space age design. As we know in New York, everyone can reach from the stars, and if you work hard enough – in New York, you may reach them. We will keep you posted on this fascinating look to the future for NYC Taxis and let you know the winning design when it is announced in the fall.
