The London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) has revealed its new hybrid-electric TX Shuttle at this year’s IAA New Mobility World event in Frankfurt, Germany.
The TX Shuttle features the same eCity technology as LEVC’s hybrid-electric taxi, combining a 1.5-litre petrol engine with a 147hp electric motor to provide an electric-only range of 129km (80 miles) and overall range of 607km (377 miles).
Its six-seater interior features charging points for mobile phones and laptops, as well as on-board Wi-Fi. Furthermore, the vehicle can take a forward-facing wheelchair.
LEVC is targeting the product at mobility and shuttle services that provide on-demand public transport and taxi services in cities.
In the UK, London remains the company’s biggest domestic market, with some 2,000 vehicles operating in the capital, and a further 500 in over 20 cities, including Birmingham, Coventry, Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Its current international markets include Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden, Hong Kong and Malaysia. In Germany the all-electric TX model has been selected for a new on-demand public transport service in Offenbach.
By 2022, LEVC expects that 70% of its vehicles will be exported and the remaining 30% will service the UK. By 2024, the company aims to have fleets of TXs in major cities around the world. To aid this, LEVC has established a central European sales office in Frankfurt.
Joerg Hofmann, CEO of LEVC, said: “The TX Taxi has proved that taxi drivers have become converts of green logistics, with major benefits in terms of cost savings.
“The time is right for a new green mobility provider, cities are faced with ever-growing populations and the challenge of air quality. With our zero-emission TX Taxi, TX Shuttle and LCV, we can change the way people and goods are moved around an urban area.”
So far, LEVC’s electrified taxis have travelled a combined distance of 21 million miles and prevented some 850,000 litres of fuel from being pumped, saving drivers a total of £3.85m.
Furthermore, its vehicles have so far prevented the output of 6,800 tonnes of CO2 and reduced NOx emissions by 99.5%.
LEVC is also currently working with University of Duisenberg-Essen and the city of Cologne to determine the possibility of creating inductive charging for its TX fleet, meaning LEVC products may not need to be plugged in.
Since 2014, Chinese automotive manufacturer Geely has invested more than £500m into LEVC, enabling it to build a new UK manufacturing facility in Ansty, Coventry and to develop the TX Taxi.
