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London's Black Cabs Go Green With Made-in-China Electric Power

  • TX5 to be rolled out in 2017, featuring Wi-Fi and room for six
  • China's Geely investing 300 million pounds in London taxi
London Taxi Cab

London Taxi Cab

Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
By
Bloomberg News

London’s future taxis will still look like the classic black cabs of yore, but under the hood will be electric-vehicle technology from China.

The TX5 model, unveiled Wednesday in the U.K. capital, takes visual cues from the classic FX4 introduced in 1958, while featuring a lightweight aluminum body, composite panels and a range-extended battery system. The cab, which will be introduced in late 2017, also has a glass roof, Wi-Fi and can accommodate six passengers -- one more than at present.