The Famous London Taxi Has Just Seen Its Biggest Update Ever

We all know the London Taxi, from personal experience or otherwise, but after decades of under-investment a new one is about to catapult the famous Black Cab into 2018.

The new TX, which hangs onto the name that has served it since the Old Testament, will use a petrol-electric range-extender hybrid drivetrain that’s good for 400 miles – including “well over” 70 miles on electric power alone, apparently. Its makers reckon it will save drivers an average of £100 per week on fuel versus the old diesel version.

It’s instantly recognisable as a black cab despite much-changed looks, although from some angles it could just as easily be a hearse. But this one should be cleaner, smoother, faster and a lot quieter than any of its predecessors.

Current TX taxis are among the dirtiest, most polluting cars on UK roads, using engine technology that was developed while Isaac Newton was still at school. Since being bought out by Chinese automotive giant Geely, though, the London Taxi Company has been renamed the London EV Company, or LEVC, bringing a new focus to its future activities as a maker only of hybrids and electric cars.

Order books will open on 1 August this year, just in case you’re thinking of switching careers to become a cabbie.