Volkswagen has shown off its Up Taxi Concept at a special unveiling in London today. The Up Taxi is VW’s vision of a quirky and environmental rival to the classic London black cab, the Hackney carriage, and offers a very good idea of what the Up will eventually look like.
The VW Up Taxi looks good! Is that what the production Up will look like?
The concept has luxurious leather seats and big touchscreens in the front and rear. Sadly, given that the base Up will cost less than a Smart, these are unlikely to make it through to production.
The Up Taxi is a refreshing take on the traditional black cab seen plying London’s streets. The production three-door Up will weigh just 800kg – that’s over a tonne less than a TX1.
Powering the VW Up Taxi
VW’s little taxi has the TX1 beaten on the eco front too. It uses lithium-ion batteries, with a total 45kW/h capacity, to power a 112bhp electric motor. VW claims a theoretical top speed of 74mph. After a full charge it should be capable of doing 186 miles, and an 80% charge takes an hour.
The taxi light on the roof glows green when it’s free and red when it’s not. Will it ever glow red? The concept doesn’t meet current legal requirements regulating taxis in London, so probably not.
What we can expect though is for the production Up to look a lot like this. If you imagine a more conventional interior, no taxi touches on the outside, smaller wheels and slightly different rear lights, you’ll get a very close idea to what the Up is going to look like when it’s officially revealed.