Electric London black cabs launched in Gibraltar

Ten new electric London black cabs drove onto the runway on Tuesday afternoon, marking the launch of the iconic vehicle on the Rock.

At the launch, Chief Minister Fabian Picardo said electric taxis are seen as a modern, environmentally friendly alternative to diesel taxis, and were capable of navigating Gibraltar's narrow, often steep roads effectively.

Having inspected the cabs inside and out, Mr Picardo said it was “fantastic” to see them on the Rock.

“Because you look at these iconic London taxis, and they are the Yorkshire Pudding of the road, aren't they?” he said.

“They are the real British icon that demonstrates that you're on British territory, on British roads, but driving on the right side, not the left side.”

It was “a soft demonstration of Gibraltar's British character.”

Mr Picardo said he viewed this as important because people who visit Gibraltar expect to see certain elements of Britishness, alongside fish and chips and red telephone boxes.

But aside from that, they are also electric cars making the fleet available to the Gibraltar Taxi Association “modern and forward looking”.

“We've been testing the electric taxi vehicle for some time,” he said, but the “technology initially wasn't there for the taxis to get up our hills”.

“Now it's there. These taxis can negotiate Gibraltar's roads very effectively and very efficiently,” he said.

“And I hope this first batch of 10 will be only the first batch that you see of these taxis coming into Gibraltar as an environmentally friendly alternative to diesel burning taxis.”

Mr Picardo said he believed the new vehicles would enhance the services provided by tax drivers. The vehicles are lower and more accessible to people with disabilities, for example.

“I think it's an additional benefit to the excellent taxi service already offered in Gibraltar,” he said.

Also at the launch were the Minister for Environment, Dr John Cortes, and the Minister for Tourism, Christian Santos.

Dr Cortes told the Chronicle that the decal stating ‘Visit Gibraltar’ on the side of the taxis will be in place for a few months before opportunities for advertising are sought.

He also noted that the license plates indicate their electric status with a green stripe. They are equipped with an extension petrol engine for emergencies but operate primarily on electric power.

“We've been wanting to introduce a London cabs for a long time, but we felt that this was probably the right moment, given the new frontier arrangements and the fact that we want to portray a very British image, because that's what we are,” he said.

“They are electric, which obviously follows our sustainability agenda.”

“We've had great cooperation from the Taxi Association and from Gedime, who have procured them for us, and here they are ready to start work, probably within the next week or so.”

Christian Agius, the Treasurer of the GTA, told the Chronicle that the cabs will be used for the private hire sector of the taxi service.

“We have seven private hire licences, and these will be put into that private hire, day shift, night shift and graveyard shift,” he said.

No new licences will be issued, instead the ten vehicles will be utilised by the 14 drivers who are currently on the private hire licence. There are two drivers per licence.

“Eight of the cars are going to be ours. We bought eight from the Government and three are Government-owned,” he said.

These will not be rented off the Government in the traditional sense, he explained, but rather “in lieu of the advertising”.

At present, the vehicles adorned with the Visit Gibraltar logo.

Mr Agius also explained that while the cabs will be able to be booked via radio as per other vehicles, increased accessibility means they will be used at the airport and the cruise terminal too.