You can now book a ride to your next appointment in a Tesla taxicab.
The City of Chicago recently licensed two Tesla Model 3 taxis to Taxi Town Inc. This is the first time Tesla models have been deployed in the City of Chicago as taxis. You can book your ride via the Curb App.
While Taxi Town has been using hybrid Ford Escape, Toyota Prius, and Ford Fusion models with lower emissions for years, this is their first deployment of all-electric taxis which have zero tailpipe emissions.
The taxi service, which is based on Chicago’s northside, has been serving customers in Chicago since 2010 and has a fleet of 370 vehicles. If Taxi Town’s owner Adrian Tudor has his way, eventually the company will convert their entire fleet of taxis to all-electric zero-emission models.
“We want to go green,” said Tudor, who has been in the taxi business in Chicago for 30 years. “These vehicles have zero emissions; they drive like a sports car. They have great acceleration, minimal maintenance, no oil changes and much less wear on the brakes.
“Our drivers love these cars,” Tudor said. “They are powerful, quiet and smooth. Because they are not in the shop as much for maintenance or repairs, our drivers also get more time on the road serving customers. And our customers love the vehicles too.”
In addition to the technological transformation happening with the vehicles’ propulsion systems, there also is a transformation inside the taxis too. Tudor says the first step to deployment is installing digital GPS meters. “That takes about a day and a half to install, which is more than the few hours that it took to install the old analog meters. However, it’s worth it – because we’re deploying terrific environmentally friendly vehicles.”
You can book rides through the Curb App on IOS and Android. To learn more about Taxi Town, visit http://www.taxitown.net.