More Green Projects From Lotus
Lotus, the sports car company in the UK, who was hired to build the electric Tesla Roadster, has a very active engineering division focused of developing green cars. The latest projects are a hydrogen taxi and hybrid limo. Lotus is one of the leading auto makers participating in a project to bring 50 to 100 zero emissions taxis to London by 2012. Logically the project is called the Zero Emission London Taxi Commercialization Project and it’s backed by Britain’s Government Technology Strategy Board, who is investing $45.3 million.
“Zero emission London taxi commercialization – This project will initiate and accelerate the introduction of commercial fleets of zero-emission fuel cell hybrid taxis primarily for London by 2012 and for other cities by 2014. The project will develop and integrate PEM fuel cell hybrid powertrains into LTI TX4 taxis. The arduous duty cycle of the London taxi will be utilized to provide a platform for accelerated fuel cell vehicle lifecycle testing.” [Source]
The limo will probably be based on a Jaguar XJ or XK but will be powered by a hybrid system not much less efficient than a Toyota Prius. “Limo Green” should have a small electric drive motor, battery pack, and a small petroleum powered generator to propel the car when the power in the batteries runs low. This sounds liek the perfect combination to also permit a plug-in option. Photo is a conventional London taxi from Wikipedia Commons.
