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Nissan Building World’s Largest EV Taxi Fleet

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Nissan Electric Taxi

It’s not really an auto show until a manufacturer makes a world-changing announcement. At the Madrid Motor Show, Nissan announced that it had just signed a deal to build the world’s largest electric taxi fleet to be used in the host city of Madrid. The deal is officially with the taxi company La Ciudad del Taxi, who ordered 110 new Nissan LEAF vehicles to ferry customers around the city.

Madrid is not the first city to utilize EVs as taxis. Amsterdam has 100 Nissan LEAF and e-NV200 vehicles on the road, and Budapest has 65 Nissan LEAF-based taxis. Nissan is also familiar with the unique requirements that taxis have thanks to these previous deals and its Taxi of Tomorrow on the streets of New York.

The first thought many of us have when thinking of EV taxis is that the range on the car’s batteries might not be enough for a taxi’s day of work. The Nissan LEAF that will be hitting the streets of Madrid will be loaded with a battery that has a range of about 250 km of range.

Gareth Dunsmore, Nissan Europe’s Head of Electric Vehicles, said, “Cities across the globe are facing huge challenges in terms of poor air quality and increasing greenhouse emissions. Adding zero emission vehicles such as the Nissan LEAF to taxi services operating in major cities is vital step to tackling these challenges head on.”

For its part, the city of Madrid itself is committed to electric cars, with the Regional Government pledging €2 million towards sustainable transportation. No delivery date has been set for the EV fleet yet, but maybe you’ll see a Nissan LEAF taxi on your next trip to the Spanish capital.