Nissan is trying to take over the world of taxi cabs. First the Nissan NV200 became the chosen cab for all of New York City, and now they’ve set their sights on an icon. The NV200 wants to replace the London black cab.
The NV200 London Taxi uses much if the same ideas in the U.K. that made it the cab of choice in NYC. It is a tall vehicle that can provide good headroom, but it is narrow for good urban movement. Minivan sliding doors for the passenger compartment are utilized to help with entrance and exit. While the last one seems hardly revolutionary to us because minivans are currently part of cab fleets over here, they have not often been seen on English taxis where minivans are considered large enough to be limousines.
Seating can be for three comfortably with good legroom, and it can be extended to five people with two rear-facing fold down seats available. The passenger compartment legroom was specifically extended so that it could also accommodate a wheelchair with little modification to the taxi.
The NV200 cab receives the 89 hp 1.5 dCi diesel engine that is used in everything over there from the Nissan Juke to the Renault Clio. Nissan claims that not only would their vehicles cost less to purchase, but also it would also save cabbies 50% in fuel bills. There will also be an all-electric version tested in Europe soon based on the eNV200 seen at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year.
Nissan does have a loose history with taxis in England. They provided the engine for the final version of the FX4. This is the iconic London black cab design that started out as an Austin in the 1950s, but well outlived the nameplate until the mid 1990s. Despite this connection, it will likely be pure economics that would have cab drivers across England choose the NV200 over vehicles from other companies that are at least trying to show history some respect.
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