The world’s most advanced electric taxi is now officially available to buy from Glasgow’s first franchised LEVC dealer.
LEVC Glasgow, located at Taggart’s Volvo showroom in Hillington Park, Glasgow, is the new home of the LEVC TX in Scotland’s largest city.
Run by Head of Business Derek Muir, the retailer operates as part of Taggart’s Motor Group, which is itself part of the larger Lookers group.
With around 20 TX electric taxis already operating across Glasgow, the appointment of an official dealer will further support the adoption of zero emission capable taxis.
With the TX, LEVC has completely redesigned the taxi, helping taxi drivers to lower their running costs, while offering passengers a more premium experience.
Gary Bowers, the first taxi driver in Glasgow to take delivery of TX last year, said: “The most surprising thing about the TX is the savings on maintenance and fuel.”
Overall, Gary has saved “several thousand pounds” maintaining the vehicle and regularly saves at least £75 per week on fuel.
On-board wi-fi, phone and laptop charging are all included, effectively making the new taxi a mobile office.
In addition, the more spacious and comfortable interior includes six seats and class-leading forward-facing wheelchair accessibility, while a panoramic roof and active and passive safety systems complete the package.
The official arrival of the LEVC TX in Glasgow comes at a time when Scotland is heavily investing in improving air quality and encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles.
Glasgow City Council has already begun to implement its electric vehicle strategy with £625,000 awarded by Transport Scotland to develop an existing charge point network - consisting of over 100 charge point locations.
Meanwhile, Edinburgh has just announced plans to install a further 66 charge points across the city.
Drivers of TX will be able to make the most of any charge point on offer with the flexible charging options available on TX: both CHAdeMO and CCS are available. TX boasts a pure electric range of 81 miles and a total range of 344 miles, including use of the ‘range extender’.
To support the roll out of electric taxis in the region, the Energy Saving Trust (Funded by Transport Scotland) will provide interest-free loans to replace conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) hackney cabs regardless of age.
Derek Muir, Head of Business of LEVC Glasgow said: “We are delighted to announce the opening of our new LEVC Glasgow business operating from our Volvo showroom in Hillington. Our dedicated team are on hand to provide information on the amazing technology behind the TX and look forward to welcoming taxi drivers to come along and see our display vehicles and demonstrators."
Steve Cootes, Sales, Marketing and Aftersales Director at LEVC, said: “We are very much looking forward to working with Derek and the team at LEVC Glasgow to deliver our purpose built electric taxis into the West of Scotland. So far, we have had some really good feedback on the product from drivers in Scotland, with reported savings of around £100 per week in fuel - in addition to the added comfort and smoother ride.”
