Filed under: Sedan, Audi, Reviews, Luxury

We come not to bury the A8L, but to praise it. Next week the newest generation of Audi’s aluminum spaceframe panzer will greet the world in Miami, and we expect it to be a leap through a wormhole compared to today’s car. After a week with the current model at the end of its six-year run, we walked away from a saloon that still has us smitten. What we didn’t expect was that, even though we didn’t come to bury the thing, we would end up throwing quite a bit of dirt on it.

A funny thing happened on the way to reviewing the 2009 Audi A8L: we discovered ourselves writing compromising things about the four-ringed flagship. This is a sedan that we adore mightily, and having thought it over, we might even say unreasonably. It became the girl you’re dating that you first describe as “She’s great!” just before divulging a list of mildly unseemly behaviors that you’d never considered all at once, ending with, “Wow… I really do like her, but come to think of it… she’s a little kooky.” That might make the Audi A8 the Megan Fox of automobiles.

We drove the A8L W12 a couple of years ago, and it was possessed of so much battleship-gray girth we wanted to call it the Bismarck and park it in a Norwegian fjord for safety. Yet and still, it was glorious: an exterior awash in pulchritude, an interior so beautiful we wish we had gotten its autograph, and it gulped miles, and gas, like cognac. Since we didn’t write about it, we didn’t give it the philosopher’s thought, and we walked away from it with only roses, no thorns. But now…

Photos copyright (C)2009 Jonathon Ramsey / Weblogs, Inc.

Continue reading Review: 2009 Audi A8L – requiem for a heavyweight

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Whether hauling old water heaters or young hockey players, the Chevrolet Suburban has been a distinctly American form of personal transportation for three quarters of a century. To put that in perspective, when the first Suburban rolled off the assembly line the Hoover Dam has just been built and Larry King had been through just one divorce.

First debuting in 1935 amid the Great Depression and Dust Bowl exodus, the vehicle then known as the Suburban Carryall holds the distinction of being the longest continuously-produced vehicle model in the United States. As much as we think SUVs are for the most part a blight upon the landscape, we’ve got to tip our collective hat to the Suburban for its longevity.

Much like SUVs that followed in its oversized treadmarks, the ‘35 Suburban had a frame borrowed from a commercial truck and seating for eight that easily converted to a huge cargo area. About the only things a modern soccer mom would miss are LCD screens in the headrests and McDonald’s fries ground into the carpet. That, and the lack of power steering, which would make it even harder to pull into a parking space with a phone in one hand and a Super Venti Whipped Mocha Coffee-like Beverage in the other.

As America’s suburbs, like its residents, expanded so did their namesake vehicle, becoming popular with both professionals and families. The current Suburban seats nine — even if we usually see them carrying one — and can tow 9,600 lbs with the 6-liter V8 under the hood. To mark the festive occasion, a special 75th Anniversary Diamond Edition comes with all the gew-gaws like rearview cameras, parking assist, satellite radio and adjustable pedals. It’s finished in White Diamond Tricote, whatever that is, and GM says it has a cashmere interior, though we’ve got to believe that refers to the color, not the material. If it’s really cashmere, we now know where a sizable chunk of the bailout went.

Our personal favorite Suburbans are the iconic C/K models that were built from 1973 through 1991, which were as ubiquitous in family-oriented neighborhoods as Big Wheels and adultery. If you lived on a street that ended in a cul-de-sac, chances are at least one of your neighbors had one of these in two-tone paint with pinstripes, and three bench seats full of rugrats. Kids whose moms drove K-cars got wedgies, but kids whose moms drove Suburbans gave wedgies.

Photos: General Motors

The CEO of Tesla Motors, which has received a fat federal loan, flew to Washington, D.C., aboard a private jet at least 12 times in the past 14 months. Although it isn’t unusual for CEOs to jet around on corporate planes, Elon Musk did so not long after lawmakers berated the heads of the Big Three automakers for doing the same thing while seeking a government bailout.

PeHub.com, citing FAA records, says Musk flew to Washington aboard his Dassault Falcon 900 on June 15, 2009 — one week before the Department of Energy agreed to lend the company $465 million to help build the Model S sedan, and two weeks after Tesla took over paying the plane’s operating costs. Those costs came to $175,000 in the second half of last year, according to the paperwork Tesla filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of an impending IPO.

Since Tesla started footing the bill, Musk’s plane has flown to Washington five other times, including one flight this year. Four of those flights were made after the feds approved the loan but before they finalized it. PeHub did not list the remaining six flights it claims Musk made since the beginning of 2009.

As PeHub notes, there’s nothing odd about the CEOs of tech firms billing their companies when flying in their jets. But PeHub quotes one venture capitalist who says it is highly unusual for the CEO of a startup to do so.

“It’s really not normal. and I don’t think it’s actually right,” said Ho Nam of Altos Ventures, which does not have a stake in Tesla. “It’s okay to expense what it would have cost to fly commercial, but the difference should be covered by the person using it. It’s really about the culture and the message it sends to the rest of the company.”

Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes said the company does not own a jet but pays for expenses incurred when Musk and other employees fly.

“Tesla has no corporate jet,” he said in an email. “When traveling on business, Elon and other Tesla employees have used his private airplane, especially for urgent or unscheduled travel, other times they fly coach. Tesla has paid for expenses such fuel charges and landing fees on some of the trips.”

Musk may have done nothing wrong. There’s nothing wrong with someone as busy as Musk — who runs three companies — flying around on a private jet. And some of those flights may have involved business related to Musk’s other ventures, Space-X and Solar City. But to have Tesla Motors foot the bill for any flights pertaining to its business while taxpayers underwrite the Model S is a colossal PR blunder.

Just ask Rick Wagoner, Alan Mulally and Robert Nardelli.

UPDATED 8 a.m. Feb. 11 to include a comment from Tesla spokesman Ricardo Reyes that came in after our deadline.

Photo of Elon Musk by Jim Merithew/Wired.com

Other than the Empire State Building, yellow taxis are the most iconic thing about New York City. But cabs, as we know them, are about to change.

About 90 percent of the city’s taxicabs are the venerable, if ugly, Ford Crown Victoria, though there are a smattering of Toyota Prius and Ford Escape hybrids and other vehicles. Two years ago the city set out to bring a cleaner, greener “Taxi of Tomorrow” to the Big Apple. Now the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission is gearing up to name a single company to reinvent and maintain New York’s taxis. During this massive overhaul, the people who make up taxis’ 65,000 1.5 million daily customers have a way to make their voices heard.

Human Condition, which calls itself an insight and innovation firm, is giving New Yorkers a say in this decision through Taxi of Tomorrow, a hub for collecting information and feedback from people of all walks of life to learn what the people of Gotham want in a taxi.

The Taxi of Tomorrow site lets users voice their opinion. There’s a place for cyclists, a place for passengers, a place for cabbies and more. Basically anyone with anything to do with taxis can weigh in. Everyone’s encouraged to ask and answer questions, share experiences and discuss ideas. Human Condition is collecting all the data and will present it to the manufacturer to build the Taxi of Tomorrow to ensure the people are heard.

Over the last few years, New York City taxis have begun making changes. They have screens in backseats, accept credit card payments and even support apps that help you call a cab without having to stand in the rain waving like a lunatic. Other ideas coming from the Taxi of Tomorrow project include warning passengers when cabs start to speed and adopting electric vehicles — an idea being considered in London.

The cab of the future might look the same as the hacks already prowling the streets. But if New Yorkers have their way, it’ll be a totally different experience. As a New Yorker who has taken countless rides in cabs, spent untold hours waiting for cabs and nearly been killed by cabs, my fingers are crossed.

We’re curious to know what you think the Taxi of Tomorrow should be, so sound off in the Reddit widget below and vote for your favorite ideas.

UPDATED 8 a.m. Feb. 11 to correct number of passengers NYC taxis carry daily.

Photo: Thomas Hawk/Flickr

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Omigod omigod omigod. Oh. My. God. One of the very best cars ever is up for sale.

When it comes to collector cars, the Ferrari GTO is flat-out it. Enzo Ferrari’s crew made just 36 of these exceptionally awesome icons between 1962 and 1964. Of those, just two were re-bodied for better aerodynamic performance.

This is one of those two. It is a Series II GTO, chassis No. 4675 GT. And it is about to hit the auction block.

Of all the cars ever built, only the Bugatti Royale might — might — be more coveted than il Commendatore’s iconic racer from the early 1960s. But Royales change hands more frequently, so when a GTO comes up for auction, it’s big news that usually leaves gearheads uttering three words: Oh my God.

In many ways, the Ferrari GTO was the last of the true sports racers. It was a car anyone could buy if they had the scratch, drive daily around town and, when the urge hit, flog the competition at, say, Le Mans or Spa-Francorchamps. And when you won — as the GTO so often did — you could plop the trophy in the passenger seat and drive home Q.E.D.

This particular car was a formidable machine. Chassis No. 4675 GT left the factory finished in Rosso Cina in April 1963 and was raced by drivers such as Guido Fossati, Jean Guichet, Oddone Sigala, Vincenzo Nember and Luigi Taramazzo. It seldom finished outside the top three in its class and racked up several wins in a range of events including hillclimbs, endurance races and rallies.

How much is chassis no. 4675 GT expected to go for? No one is willing to give an estimate. But when buying a GTO you must have a suitcase full of cash or an ATM drawn on a Swiss bank account. Consider this: In 2008, a British buyer bought a 250 GTO formerly owned by Lee Kun-hee of Samsung Electronics at an auction for a record £15.7 million. That works out to $24.5 million at today’s exchange rate.

Oh. My. God.

Photo: RM Auctions. You’d think they would have provided a better one. Oh well.

See Also:

• Stunning Vintage Ferrari Brings $12.1 Million
• Vintage Ferrari Commands $730,000
• The 458 Shows Why Ferrari Is The Best
• Ferrari Is Bringing Hybrid To Geneva

EVERETT, Washington — Well into the first flight of Boeing’s new 747-8, co-pilot Tom Imrich brought up the fuel page on a display in the cockpit. Chief pilot Mark Feuerstein did a double take when he saw it. The biggest airliner Boeing has ever built left Paine Field carrying 130,000 pounds of jet fuel. But the plane, which Boeing is hailing for its efficiency, was burning less fuel than expected.

“You’re generally familiar with the odd burns — off nominal, and you know what they are,” Feuerstein said, explaining the unusual flying conditions of a first flight. “I said, ‘This is amazing.’”

Feuerstein made some quick calculations and realized they would have much more fuel remaining than expected when they landed after an inaugural flight slated to last four hours.

“We looked at the fuel flows at one point, and the telemetry room at Boeing Field wanted to know what time we would land,” he said after Monday’s flight. “I asked them if 10 o’clock tonight would be okay.”

They said no.

The flight touched down at 4:18 p.m. local time after 219 minutes in the air. Feuerstein’s comments about the fuel burn were a great thing to say for a company marketing its new plane as an efficient alternative to the competition. The experienced pilots were quick to note it will require a closer look at the data before anyone can confirm an actual fuel burn number. But at a glance, the efficient wing design and engines appear to be holding up their end of the deal.

At takeoff, the 747-8 weighed about 630,000 pounds, relatively light for a 747 flight. Feuerstein said they used 20 degrees of flaps and rotated at 152 knots. The plane lifted off the ground at around the 4,000 foot marker. The landing was made with 25 degrees of flaps and at 151 knots. Feuerstein says these speeds were six to seven knots faster that what the airplane will do once in service.

“That’s just obviously to cover the uncertainties that might be out there,” Feuerstein said.

Feuerstein said they touched all the systems during the flight, including shutting down the engines. When asked which engine was shut down, he replied, “All of them.” Laughing, he quickly clarified, “But we did it one at a time!”

While the pilots were busy flying, we stayed busy having a look at the next 747-8s as they were being prepared for their first flights.

The Boeing factory is the largest building in the world by volume. It’s the same building where the first 747 was built more than 40 years ago. Currently Boeing’s biggest aircraft, the 747-8, along with the 767 (assuming it continues), 777 and 787 Dreamliner are all built in the factory at the north end of Paine Field here in Everett.

The building is huge. It covers 4.3 million square feet and contains 472 million cubic feet of space. Amazingly, the building has no heating or air conditioning. It is heated by more than 1 million light bulbs, numerous computers, people and other equipment. If it gets too hot, employees crack open the massive 82-by-300-foot doors to let in a little fresh air.

The place is so big it even had its own weather for a bit. When the building was first built, clouds formed near the ceiling. Improved air circulation fixed that. More than 30,000 people work at the factory in three shifts. There are 1,300 bicycles for them to ride since it is more than half a mile from one end of an assembly line to the other.

Inside the building, a few assembly lines down from where the 787s are being built, the first production models of the 747-8 are nearing completion. There are three parked outside, including the one that flew Monday. Numbers four, five and six are nearly done and will be the first nontest aircraft flown.

Because the test aircraft have to be refit for customer use before they are delivered, the aircraft now in the factory will be the first received by customers. The first two are going to launch customer Cargolux, while the third will be delivered to Guggenheim Leasing Partners.

After a look inside the factory, it was time to have a look inside the second test aircraft. While the first plane flown, airframe No. RC501, will continue initial air-worthiness testing, RC521 (different customer, different number series) will be used for systems testing including autolanding and propulsion systems.

The 747-8 is immense. It looks almost identical to the current model, the 747-400. But behind the characteristic hump, the stretched fuselage now measures more than 250 feet long. The wingspan is 224 feet 7 inches. The plane can carry more than 550,000 pounds of cargo at speeds of more than 560 mph. Fully loaded, it tips the scales at 975,000 pounds.

All that mass will be carried by a completely new wing and engines. Many of the internal systems are new as well, including the flight control computer. All that new technology allows the 747-8 to carry more passengers or cargo further for less money.

The interior is equally vast. The first planes slated for production are cargo planes, so there are no luggage bins or bulkheads to divide the open space. You could put on a small circus inside a 747-8.

The interiors are all business for flight test. In the front of the airplane, there are 16 water ballast tanks with another 16 in the aft end. A single ballast tank also sits closer to the middle and it looks like there’s a spot for one more across the aisle.

These tanks are filled with water and engineers can transfer water between the tanks during flight to shift the weight of simulated cargo or passengers. The center of gravity, or CG as pilots call it, is important to the flight characteristics of any airplane. During flight test, Boeing must ensure the plane is safe and efficient at full forward and full aft CG as well as any combination between the two.

Several engineering stations dominate the middle of RC521. The racks of computers are for data collection, and most have terminals where engineers will sit during test flights to analyze data as various maneuvers are performed and systems checked. Feuerstein took us through some of the moves in a 747-8 simulator last month.

Feuerstein told us there isn’t anything that makes his heart jump while he’s flying test points, but the engineers in the windowless cargo hold have to endure various maneuvers while keeping their eyes glued to a screen. That sounds like a reason for eating something that may taste as good coming up as it did going down. Depending on the test flight, 10 to 22 engineers are on board.

One of the more unusual devices inside the test aircraft was a giant wheel at the very end of the plane. It is used to reel in and reel out the small cone (shown below) that trails behind the airplane to provide an accurate static pressure reading during flight testing.

Eventually the inside tour came to an end and it was time to get back to the runway to watch RC501 touch down after three hours and 39 minutes in the air. There are some 1,600 hours of flight tests still to do. Boeing will install more equipment on the aircraft and flight testing will continue at Moses Lake in central Washington. After that, the aircraft will be moved to Palmdale, California, where the remaining tests will be completed.

Boeing says Cargolux will receive its first 747-8 before the end of the year.

Photos: Jason Paur/Wired.com

It’s hard to believe, but this milquetoast Ford Ranger EV conversion inspired a tale of intrigue and redemption worthy of John Grisham.

It all started in Santa Monica, California, where lifelong resident Paul Pearson was building electric cars for fun at home. The hobby outgrew the house and pretty soon he rented space in a nearby commercial building.

Everything was going fine until a fateful day in December of 2008 when two men contacted Pearson, asking if he could convert a vintage T-Bird from gas to electric. Sure, he said.

“Suddenly the room started filling up” with people, he said.

It was a sting. The powers that be arrested Pearson on charges of manufacturing vehicles without a license. Keep in mind that Santa Monica is a city that loves electric vehicles. The story gets even more remarkable when you realize the seal on the door of the pickup shown above is that of the very city that tried to prevent Pearson from converting cars in the first place.

It’s kind of like David and Goliath, if Goliath had ended up as a customer of David.

During Pearson’s second court appearance, the City of Santa Monica amended the charges.

“They realized I hadn’t agreed to sell them a car, and the cars I’d supposedly manufactured weren’t for sale,” Pearson said.

Only one problem remained. They were going after him for a vehicle code violation. The battle dragged on.

As the case dragged on in court, Pearson got a call from Rick Sikes, the fleet manager for the very city trying to shut him down. Sikes had seen Pearson’s work at an AltCar Expo sponsored by the city and wanted to work together on an EV conversion for the municipal fleet.

“His attention to detail and the quality of his work impressed me,” Sikes said. “After I heard about the ’sting’ that the DMV and the city conducted, I talked to Paul to see if he was doing conversions. He said he wasn’t, but that he might be interested. We decided it would be best to wait until the case was settled to discuss it further.”

The case eventually was dismissed in June of 2009, during his sixth court appearance. “Here we’d been in court for six months and there really wasn’t a law that governed the conversion of cars from gas to electric.” Pearson got a reprimand for not having a business license, then got another call from Sikes.

“When I read in the paper that the city dropped charges against Paul, I contacted him and asked if would be interested in bidding on converting a Ranger,” Sikes said.

According to Sikes, new EVs are too limited for the needs of the fleet, so Santa Monica opted for a converted pickup.

“Our most popular vehicles are pickups, so that is what we focused on,” Sikes said. “His price was best, so we went with him.”

The first vehicle cost $80,000, which Pearson said was mostly due to decoding the CAN-bus. He estimated that future conversions would cost $22,000. After a short time in service, Sikes said the truck was performing “as specified,” and fills a gap until major automakers start building electric pickups.

In addition to its service in Santa Monica, the Ranger is being shown to municipalities and universities as part of a two-year test project. Eventually, Pearson said, thousands of Rangers may be converted to EVs. Best of all, Pearson said there’s no lingering anger over this Ford Ranger.

“I’m very proud to see the city seal,” he said. “I see that truck every morning on the beaches doing cleanup.”

Photo: Paul Pearson

The Obama Administration’s proposed 2011 budget has hit the streets on the heels of the big high-speed rail spending plan and it’s making lots of transit people very happy.

The bottom line is the federal Department of Transportation gets $79 billion, a $2 billion increase over last year. While most of it — just over $42 billion, is designated for roads and highways — a lot of money is being put to a lot of good projects: $10.8 billion for mass transit, $1 billion for high-speed rail, etc. You can read about the projects in great detail at the DoT’s budget website.

The budget proposal is just that — a proposal. It’s still got to go through Congress and then to the president. Even then, specific projects laid out in the spending plan are simply budget justifications. It’s essentially the various federal agencies saying, “If you give us this money, here’s how we’ll probably spend it.” Binding line item projects come in major appropriations bills like the one proposed by Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minnesota). Though Oberstar’s legislation contains some general congruencies with the DoT budget — an infrastructure bank, for one — neither bill definitively assigns money to specific projects, and the fact both spending plans are subject to change makes comparing them difficult.

“How it will affect [the Oberstar bill's] authorization right now is unknown, as far as DoT funding,” Jim Brerard of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said Tuesday. “The budget does not appear to have anything shocking.”

Neither does it represent a paradign shift toward mass transit. But it is a notable step in the right direction. Here are some of the most noteworthy allocations in the DoT budget request.

First and foremost, this is the first budget request since the DoT announced in January a major change in how mass transit projects are considered for funding. Considerations of a project’s cost-effectiveness — defined by how much time riders might save — have been downsized in favor of neighborhood economic development and “livability.” The formula has been altered to allow stronger consideration for a project’s potential to improve neighborhood dynamics and quality of life for residents. What does this mean in practical terms? Instead of rewarding sprawl by giving higher priority to those with longer commutes, the new standards will funnel more money toward making transit easier within cities and encouraging more densely populated mixed-use neighborhoods.

Second, the budget sets aside $4 billion to begin the National Infrastructure Innovation and Finance Fund, the so-called infrastructure bank. Frankly, our eyes glaze over at the mention of federal financing mechanisms, so correct us if we’re wrong, but the bank will make direct loans to transit authorities and guarantee payment of bonds issued to finance construction or maintenance of transit projects. The bank will provide a dedicated, dependable source of funding for infrastructure projects that traditionally have relied upon government grants that are easy to withdraw. Although the name of the program makes it clear it is dedicated to all infrastructure, the fact it falls under the DoT budget request suggests transportation will be a major focus. A summary of the bank starts about halfway down this Economic Policy Institute paper (.pdf), but what we’d like to see is The Idiot’s Guide to The Infrastructure Bank.

Third, the Obama Administration also has set aside just over $1 billion for the NextGen Air Traffic Control system, which will — eventually — replace a system built upon World War II-era technology. That amount is an increase of roughly 30 percent over last year’s budget. It would be difficult to overstate the need for this upgrade; the system we’re using now is the airborne equivalent of building new roads to meet the needs of horse-drawn buggies. You can blame this antiquated system for much of the inefficiency in air traffic, and if it isn’t fixed, the Federal Aviation Administration warns we’ll be gridlocked by 2015. NextGen is an ongoing attempt to revolutionize, and hopefully introduce some sensibility to, the air traffic control system. It has a long way to go before it becomes the new standard, but hopefully this infusion of funds will speed things up some.

Fourth, $1 billion to high-speed rail under the Federal Railroad Administration and another $1.6 billion to Amtrak.

Finally, the budget provides capital infusions from the Federal Transit Administration to extend or build new mass transit in cities across the country. Granted, $1.8 billion isn’t a whole lot when you’re talking about infrastructure (Honolulu’s light rail project alone will cost over $5 billion), but the funding awards are calculated to make the biggest impact when and where it’s most needed — light rail in Charlotte, a streetcar in Tuscon, a Metro extension in Washington, DC and other projects that lacked crucial funding. The budget request includes money for everything from light rail to subways to bus rapid transit. Both StreetsblogDC and The Transport Politic go into this in a lot more detail.

Although Washington remains buried in snow, Congress will any day now pass the $154 billion Jobs for Main Street Act of 2010 (.pdf), which includes $27.1 billion for highways and other surface transportation and $8.4 billion for public transportation.. And later this month the DoT will announce who’s getting of TIGER grants out of the federal stimulus bill, which are expected to stress multimodal transportation links.

This month promises to be exciting indeed for transit advocates.

Photo: Associated Press. Jerry Castillo of Norman, Oklahoma, right, a concrete pump truck operator for Manhattan Road and Bridge Company, controls the flow of concrete as Marcus Lopez, left, works on the new I-40 Crosstown Bridge over Agnew Street in Oklahoma City.

See Also:

• Washington Fiddles as Infrastructure Crumbles
• Infrastructure Politics Veering Right
• Big Bucks and Big Ideas for Big Transportation Bill
• As Congress Stalls, Air Traffic Creeps Toward Gridlock

Ford has said as many as one in four cars its sells by 2020 will be electrified. It took a big step toward that goal today when it unveiled an electric delivery van that will be available by the end of this year.

The Transit Connect Electric is the first vehicle built under what Ford calls its “accelerated electrified vehicle plan” that includes the electric Ford Focus we’ll see next year and a plug-in hybrid slated for 2012.

The e-van swaps the engine and fuel tank in the 2010 North American Truck of the Year in favor of a 28 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack and an electric motor. Beyond that, it’s identical to the gasoline model and has similar acceleration and top speed (75 mph). It has a claimed range of 80 miles and “optimal recharging” in six to eight hours. We suspect that’s what it takes plugged into a 220-volt outlet, though you can also use a 110.

“Not only is this an ideal vehicle for ec0-conscious fleet operators, it is an important part of Ford’s future,” said Derrick Kuzak, vp of global product development.

That’s because hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles will play an increasingly important role at Ford. The company expects 20 to 25 percent of its cars to have an electric drivetrain of some kind by 2020. It’s pushing the Transit Connect Electric as ideal fleet use by, say, the U.S. Postal Service because such vehicles typically follow short, predictable routes and are housed in centralized locations that make charging a snap. What’s more, Ford says, electric vehicles are cost-effective in the long run because they require little maintenance and they’re dirt cheap to operate.

“We’re excited about the potential for our electrified vehicles,” said Praveen Cherian, program manager for the electric Transit Connect. He likens the vehicle to a hybrid and says, “People were a little hesitant about hybrid technology at first, but now they embrace and accept it. We expect the same to be true of electric vehicles.”

Ford also unveiled a Transit Connect tailored for use as a taxi, though it seems to us an electric van would make a perfect cab. After all, they’re trying it in London.

Photo: Ford

See Also:

• Ford’s Electrifying Plan to Boost Efficiency
• Jay Leno Brings EVs Into America’s Living Room
• Ford’s Focus Is a Big Bet on Small Cars
• Postal Service to Test Electric Truck

The British love their traditions: the Queen, tea, quaint gardens and the like. One of their most visible traditions, the black London taxi, could be going green.

Britain’s Eco City Vehicles is rolling out an electric version of the Mercedes-Benz Vito taxi and will field-test the car in London later this year. The slick cab, which looks like a pug-nosed minivan, was developed by a consortium that included Penso, Mercedes-Benz UK and Zytec Automotive.

Eco City, which sells and services taxis, says the eVito will comply with the mayor’s proposed clean air standards for taxis. The new regs are set to take effect in time for the London Olympics in 2012.

“The eVito, together with the already popular Vito taxi, provides London with a great opportunity to reduce air pollution with modern vehicles,” Peter DaCosta, chief executive of Eco City, said, according to the Telegraph. “We have taken on board Mayor Boris Johnson’s wish for a cleaner London and I’m confident this will contribute to meeting his goal.”

Londoners have been grabbing rides in the popular Vito since 2008, and the vehicle has proven to be a serious competitor to Manganese Bronze, which builds the city’s traditional black taxis. The Vito has claimed 30 percent of the market since its introduction, according to Reuters. An electric version makes perfect sense and would be just the thing for New York’s Taxi of Tomorrow.

Photo: Mercedes-Benz