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angelmb · Mar 22, 2010, 06:32 AM

Some guy from Toyota Spain branch was on the news talking about how the 90% of the United States taxi cab fleet are hybrids, I think he would have nuked any lie detector just staring at it… so, what do Americans have to say about this, bullshit or true?.

ghporter · Mar 22, 2010, 06:42 AM

Not around here. There are a whole lot of minivans (mostly Fords from my observations), and a few more conventional sedans, with a pretty good number of Priuses-but nowhere near 90% of taxis here are any single make or model.

residentEvil · Mar 22, 2010, 08:19 AM

i spent a week in new orleans the end of january. stood in line at the taxi stand once arriving for around 30 minutes (100 or so people in line). never saw a hybrid. all my walking around and a couple taxi rides, never saw one.

here in detroit; are there taxis? hahaha. can't say that i ever see any hybrids. you either have 20+ year old cars, or the higher end transport for hire service in towncars.

Laminar · Mar 22, 2010, 08:32 AM

Everything here is Impalas and ex-police Crown Vics.

The Final Dakar · Mar 22, 2010, 08:43 AM

Maybe 90% of what Toyota has been selling to US Taxi fleets.

Otherwise, just an outright lie.

nonhuman · Mar 22, 2010, 08:51 AM

What's the deal in Manhattan? I imagine that Manhattan dominates the stats on this.

I just spent the weekend in Boston and there were quite a few hybrid taxis, especially compared with 1 year ago when I moved down here. San Francisco also has quite a few, and has for years.

I would very easily believe that 90% of new taxi purchases in the US are hybrids.

starman · Mar 22, 2010, 08:52 AM

There are old taxis all over the place in NYC. 90%? Bullshit.

finboy · Mar 22, 2010, 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by residentEvil

i spent a week in new orleans the end of january. stood in line at the taxi stand once arriving for around 30 minutes (100 or so people in line). never saw a hybrid. all my walking around and a couple taxi rides, never saw one.

here in detroit; are there taxis? hahaha. can't say that i ever see any hybrids. you either have 20+ year old cars, or the higher end transport for hire service in towncars.

I've never seen any. Not in San Francisco, Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, Charlotte, San Diego, Ft. Lauderdale, LA, DC, Baltimore, Little Rock, Denver, Dallas, Nawlins, etc. Nope, none. Wishful thinking.

What I HAVE seen, though, are corporate fleets and govt vehicles that are hybrid (and years ago, run on propane or something around DC). That's cool with me, as long as it's cost-effective.

But at airports? Nope, none. Not even in SF last year -- traditional town cars were all we had to choose from.

mdc · Mar 22, 2010, 09:00 AM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

What's the deal in Manhattan? I imagine that Manhattan dominates the stats on this.

According to toyota.com their hybrids are the Prius, Camry, and Highlander. I take taxis all the time in Manhattan and have never been in any of these as taxis.

The most common Hybrid taxi I am in is the Ford Escape.

imitchellg5 · Mar 22, 2010, 09:34 AM

Only place that I've ever seen a Toyota hybrid taxi is a Camry in Monterey, Ca. But they have an odd fleet with lots of Scion xBs, H3s, etc.

ghporter · Mar 22, 2010, 08:40 PM

It looks like I'm the only one who's seen them as taxis at all. Priuses are definitely used as taxis here in San Antonio. But they're not nearly as common as the mini vans I mentioned earlierl

Art Vandelay · Mar 22, 2010, 08:42 PM

Here in Seattle, most are Ford Police Interceptors. The second most common model is the Prius. When I was in SF last month, I saw a lot of Fusion Hybrid cabs.

nonhuman · Mar 22, 2010, 08:55 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

It looks like I'm the only one who's seen them as taxis at all. Priuses are definitely used as taxis here in San Antonio. But they're not nearly as common as the mini vans I mentioned earlierl

I've definitely seen them as Taxis in San Francisco (as early as '06), and Boston and DC recently. I've definitely not seen any evidence that they make up 90% of the total US fleet though.

subego · Mar 23, 2010, 12:47 AM

The guy may have meant new taxis.

Though here in Chicago, I'd say the Priuses are neck and neck with Scions.

98% of what's on the road though are CVPIs and Impalas, with minivans a distant third.

Eug · Mar 23, 2010, 09:33 AM

Yeah, that was what I was thinking: Maybe he just meant new taxis, but even that seems optimistic.

In any case... For many people hybrids don't really make sense in terms of pure cost because most people don't drive enough over the ownership period to save enough gas to pay for the extra cost of the hybrid engine, and I say this as a Prius owner. I will save money, but that's only because I'll own the car a decade. The main reason I personally bought was because I liked it and the concept, and because it's a mid-size hatchback. I didn't buy it to save money.

However, for taxis the hybrid engine is a huge advantage. Reports from Prius taxi owners are that the gas savings are very significant, and strangely enough maintenance costs are also lower. I don't know if maintenance costs are similarly low with other hybrids, though.