New electric taxi export deal signed with Norway

The London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) has appointed Oslo based Autoindustri as its Norweigian importer for its advanced electric taxi.

This marks the second deal to export the TX eCity to Europe, following a deal signed with Dutch mobility firm RMC which was announced earlier this year.

According to the Norwegian EV Association, electric taxis are essential to reduce emissions and noise, in particular in city areas.

In Norway, the taxi companies have lagged behind the private market in electrifying their fleets, and the next wave of Norway’s electrification of road transport will be to electrify urban commercial vehicles – like taxis, vans and lorries.

Autoindustri will be working to realise this transition – by combining the latest geofencing technology with LEVC’s eCity technology.
 
The TX eCity has already been extensively tested in Norway as part of LEVC’s cold-weather testing regime. The country has world leading testing facilities within the Arctic Circle. In addition – the aluminum for the taxi’s body is provided by Norwegian firm SAPA’s Welsh plant.

LEVC are working with Autoindustri because of their long track record as a vehicle importer – Autoindustri is a part of the Gill Group and they have been importing Subaru vehicles into Norway for 42 years and have established a market share for Subaru of 2.5 per cent, which is eight times the European average.

The Gill Group currently have 40 dealer points across Norway. The business also has historic links to the UK automotive industry, having formerly been a retailer for Rover Cars.

Chris Gubbey, CEO of LEVC said: “We are delighted to be working with a business that shares our vision for transforming the urban commercial vehicle sector. There are huge opportunities ahead for the business in Norway – and we are looking forward to working with Autoindustri to make them a reality.”
 
Both Norway and the Netherlands have extensive EV charge point networks that allows LEVC to use after-market geofencing technology and enables the vehicle to meet regulatory requirements for zero emission operations from taxis in European city centres.

This system will ensure that the vehicle always runs in zero emission mode whilst in city centres - with the petrol range extender only in operation on intercity journeys – providing a flexible EV solution that meets the requirements of both city regulators and commercial operators.

With the approval of operators, LEVC hopes to share the aggregated data collected with city regulators to give them the necessary piece of mind that these vehicles are spending most of their operating cycle in pure EV mode.

Deliveries to Norway will begin in Quarter 1 2018, following a planned launch by Autoindustri at the Nordic EV summit.