Electric taxis will hit Bogota streets this December, reported newspaper El Espectador Friday.
Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro announced that at the end of this year 50 electric taxis will start work in the country’s capital as part of a “pilot scheme that allows the renewal of the taxi fleet which is contaminated with toxic waste.”
The new taxis are environmentally friendly and produce 80% less greenhouse gases. Added to this is the reduced cost on petrol; a 250km journey in a normal taxi costs about $33 whereas in an electric one the cost is only $6, according to El Espectador.
Bogota is streets ahead with this initiative as only a few other cities worldwide have electric taxis. Mexico City got them in 2011 and Shenzhen in China in 2010, while the first electric taxis arrived in London only in July.