Time for a little surprise: the yet non-converted Mondeos used by the cab company are powered by... LPG! The cars are supplied to EcoCar System's headquarters as petrol-powered vehicles with 1,6 l engines and BRC autogas systems (with Flashlube valve saver kits). There, they are converted to electric drive by Green Capital City's branch EVC Group. The original propulsion system of each vehicle is almost completely eradicated (almost, because the gearbox remains in place and retains its function) and becomes substituted by a very compact 60 kW (82 HP) electric motor and three packs of LiPoly batteries (one located in the otherwise nearly empty engine bay, another under the car, in front of the rear axle and the last one in the trunk). The packs are situated this way not just because there was space available, but also for the sake of restoring the cars' front-rear balance. Their overall capacity is 30 kWh, which translates into a 100-150 km range, but the workshift system in EcoCar is designed to allow the cars to be driven as much as 600 km a day.
Does the company draw inspiration from Total Recall after all and employ cyborg drivers, who do not need to sleep? No, of course not. The trick is this: the cars belong to EcoCar (it is the driver's responsibility, however, to keep them clean outside and tidy inside), so once a driver completes his 8- or 12-hour long shift, he or she transfers the car to a colleague and it keeps driving. This way, Mondeos never sleep, although are allowed to rest a little during battery charging, which takes approximately 45 minutes. As long as a quick charger is used, that is, but fortunately there is one at the company's headquarters in the Praga district of Warsaw. While the batteries charge, the driver can take a nap, a walk or a cup of coffee. In future, to avoid returning to the dispatch for every recharging, EcoCar will install quick chargers around Warsaw. There are a few publicly available charging points in the city, but they all offer standard 230 V energy, which renders them useless to a taxi fleet operator since stopping a car that is supposed to earn money for 7 hours every 100-150 km sounds little like a business plan.
And what do initial customers think of this new enterprise? As could be expected, there is quite a lot of interest. Many want to try out the new multimedia cabs and see for themselves what it is like to ride in a car that cannot be heard, yet drives like any other vehicle. If EcoCar manages to put their ambitious plans into practice (including, in time, coming to other Polish cities), we are about to witness a revolution in the market of taxi services. Other capitals will be left to enviously look at Warsaw or, at best, copy the ideas and solutions conceived by EcoCar System. Besides, maybe other Polish taxi companies will finally catch up with the times and refresh their fleets so they cease being overviews of global automotive industry from the days of the latest turn of centuries. Meanwhile, we shall keep our fingers crossed for the EV cabs with LPG twist.
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