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London’s famous black cabs may be going electric soon. The current cabs are made by a company called Manganese Bronze, which is owned by the Chinese company Geely and they have been in talks with the UK’s government for conversion of the fleet of cabs to electric.

Matthew Cheyne, the international development director for Manganese Bronze, told BusinessGreen.com that a partnership between his company and the Tanfield Group (specialists in electric vehicles) is progressing and that the first electric black cabs could be prowling London streets early next year.

The new cab, which will be based on the company’s current TX4 model, will be designated the TX4E and will have a top speed of 50mph and an operating range of 100+ miles on one charge. The vehicles are basically engineless shells of the TX4 that have had electric motors installed rather than petrol-powered drive trains.

Cheyne confirms that London will only be the “proving ground” for these cabs and that they will likely spread, with successful trial, to other parts of the world that the black cabs operate in.

The vehicles will have a Tanfield electric drive train powered by a lithium-ion-phosphate battery pack, replacing the current petrol or diesel powered engines used in today’s black cabs. Using a currently-tested and proven vehicle design helps bypass many of London’s vehicle fitness requirements, speeding up the process of approval.

This Post via BusinessGreen