As part of its most comprehensive test program ever, London Taxi Company (LTC) recently took its range-extended electric black cab to the Arizona desert to evaluate the vehicle’s performance in the scorching heat.
Extreme climate testing is critical not only to ensure the vehicle can cover considerable distances with the air conditioning running at full power, but also ensures that the new cab will be durable driven in different countries and conditions worldwide.
Chris Gubbey, CEO of LTC, said, “Since announcing this project we have had considerable interest not just from European cities but hot weather cities around the world. To convert this interest into sales we must prove TX5 can perform as well in the 45°C heat of Dubai as it can in the sub-zero temperatures of the Arctic, and as it does in the changeable conditions of London.”
On these trials, the vehicle successfully undertook daily journeys of 300 miles – roughly triple the average daily milage of the typical London cab.
Dr Wolfram Liedtke, head of quality at LTC, added, “Testing in these extremes provides us with a huge amount of data, helping us to understand how the performance of the batteries changes at high temperatures, and how can get the most charge out of them.
“In the next few weeks, our equipment testing will also take us to extremely humid environments, as well as some more mountainous terrain. This is all preparation for one of the most challenging environments for vehicles – everyday use on the streets of London.”
June 5, 2017
