The Nissan New York ‘Taxi of Tomorrow’ has been revealed at the New York motor show.
The vehicle, which is based on the Nissan NV200 van, will go in to active service in 2013, and is expected to replace all of New York’s current taxi fleet by 2018. In total almost 16,000 cabs are on New York’s streets, and all must be replaced at least every five years by law.
See official interior and exterior pictures of the Nissan New York taxi
Changes from the standard NV200 van include a transparent roof and flat floors. The vehicle also has five centimetres more legroom than a Ford Crown Victoria, New York’s most popular taxi at present, and more luggage space.
“This taxi was designed from the inside out and the result is the safest, most comfortable, most passenger-friendly cab to ever ride our streets,” said New York mayor Michael Bloomberg. “For the first time our city will have a cab designed for those who matter most, the passengers and drivers.”
Nissan headed off competition from rivals including Ford to win the 10-year New York taxi contract.
