London's new Crewe-built taxi (From Crewe Guardian)

London's new Crewe-built taxi

9:09am Monday 20th August 2012 in News By Matthew Taylor

AFTER transporting thousands of spectators around the capital’s special Olympic traffic lanes, the future of London’s black cab is in safe hands thanks to a Crewe vehicle builder.

Groby Road based manufacturer of multi-purpose vehicles, Voyager MPV, has unveiled a low-emission, multi-person, version of London’s black cab to ply the famous roads around Big Smoke.

The Crewe company were charged with modifying Nissan’s NV200 vehicle for the use in the capitol, making sure it complied with the famous 25ft turning circle regulation to navigate the capitol’s narrow streets – a legal requirement for all Hackney Carriages said to originate from the small roundabout outside The Strand’s Savoy Hotel.

Other features include installation of the world-famous ‘taxi’ sign affront, as well as a metre sq glass roof so passengers can observe London’s iconic skyline looming above.

The Crewe creation has been backed by London mayor Boris Johnson for its fuel efficiency, and has already been unveiled in Tokoyo, and chosen as the ‘taxi of tomorrow’ in New York.

An electric version of the cab is due to be tested in 2013.

Mr Johnson said: “I am absolutely delighted that manufacturers are stepping up to the plate and are responding to the challenge I set in my air quality strategy to reduce taxi emissions and improve efficiency.”

Voyager operations manager, Oliver Lee, added: “We’re incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved, and to receive praise from such a high level is fantastic. It’s been hard work for all and I personally cannot praise the development team enough.

“We’re excited to take the project forward and are already eager to develop the vehicle further. The future looks exciting.”