NYC says taxi drivers can choose hybrids over Nissan ‘Taxi of Tomorrow’

Filed under: Nissan, Legislation and Policy

Right about now, Nissan must be wishing it had a baked-in a shorter development time for its NV200 hybrid. Nissan started production on the taxi version of the NV200 about a year ago and has previously stated it will offer a hybrid version out by 2015.

But that’s late enough that the Japanese automaker’s foothold on future New York City taxi sales is looser than it otherwise would have been. Last week, New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission voted to allow cab drivers to buy their own hybrids as an alternative to the NV200 minivan cab, the New York Daily News reports. Two years ago, the gas-powered NV200 was named by the city government as NYC’s “Taxi of Tomorrow” because of features including available features like a glass roof and on-board cell-phone rechargers, not to mention its roominess and relative fuel efficiency.

The city was set to start pushing for the taxi-fleet switchover in October but has faced legal opposition in recent months from the state’s Supreme Court, which now says the city’s mandate is unenforceable, in part because it doesn’t offer fleet owners a hybrid alternative.

NYC says taxi drivers can choose hybrids over Nissan ‘Taxi of Tomorrow’ originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Thu, 27 Jun 2013 18:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Hyundai vehicle return program ending tomorrow

Filed under: Car Buying, Hyundai, Earnings/Financials

Hyundai dealership window

Effective tomorrow, Hyundai is reportedly ending its vehicle return program, which allowed Hyundai owners who unexpectedly lost their income to return their cars. The program was a breakthrough when it was introduced in January, 2009 at the height of the global credit crunch.

According to Inside Line, only 350 people have taken advantage of the program, which fell under the blanket of the automaker’s Hyundai Assurance coverage package. With the job market slowly returning to a somewhat normal state and economic conditions on the rise, Hyundai apparently feels that the program has outlived its usefulness.

In the face of a worrying economy, Hyundai of America moved 538,228 vehicles in 2010. Despite the loss of the vehicle return program, the Korean automaker will apparently continue other programs associated with Hyundai Assurance, including its 10-year/100,000-mile warranty and five-year roadside assistance plan.

[Source: Inside Line | Image: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty]

Report: Hyundai vehicle return program ending tomorrow originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: ‘Yesterday’s Cars of Tomorrow’ makes us nostalgic for a future that never was

Filed under: Concept Cars, Classics, Videos

Yesterday's Cars of Tomorrow

Going back to the future in automotive design – Click above to watch the video after the break

Think today’s concept cars – like the ones recently unveiled at the currently ongoing Geneva Motor Show – are off the wall? They ain’t got nothin’ on what American automakers and independent engineers alike were coming up with circa the 1950s.

With the jet age throttling up to full speed, the concept cars of yesteryear embodied the unbridled optimism of post-war America. Today, of course, they seem as kitschy as an old Disneyland ride, but you can take that step back into the future that never was in the brief video after the jump. Just don’t forget where you parked the DeLorean there, Marty.

[Source: Retro Thing]

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Video: ‘Yesterday’s Cars of Tomorrow’ makes us nostalgic for a future that never was originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Turkish taxi of tomorrow design beats Nissan, Ford proposals among New Yorkers [w/video]

Filed under: Hybrid, Wagon, Etc., Work

Karsan V1 New York City taxi
Karsan V1 New York City Taxi – Click above for high-res image gallery

The people of New York City have spoken, and they’ve found the taxi designs from both Ford and Nissan lacking. You may remember that the New York Taxi and Limousine Commission recently set about polling residents on which of a handful of taxi designs they preferred for the future of transportation in the city. Automakers from around the world submitted their designs for a cab that was safe, offered a small environmental impact, complied with Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and was physically smaller than the tried-and-true Crown Victoria. Well, the votes are officially in, and a cab from the Turkish company Karsan is the winner.

Around 66 percent of respondents either liked or loved the design of the Karsan V1, and that was enough to seal the vehicle’s fate as the people’s choice for the Taxi of Tomorrow. The V1 boasts a number of appealing unique features, including a panoramic glass roof and wheelchair ramps on both sides of the vehicle for easy access. It’s also a hybrid, which means that cabbies can expect to save fuel in the future if the commission picks the V1 as the city’s new cab, and it is easily adaptable to other fuel sources as needed, including diesel, natural gas or fully electric.

The city is likely to take the results of the survey into consideration as it makes a final decision later this year, though popularity with the public provides no guarantees that NYC cabbies will soon be talking Turkey. Check out a video detailing the finer points of the Karsan V1 New York City taxi concept after the break.

Gallery: Karsan V1 New York City Taxi concept

Karsan V1 New York City Taxi conceptKarsan V1 New York City Taxi conceptKarsan V1 New York City Taxi conceptKarsan V1 New York City Taxi conceptKarsan V1 New York City Taxi concept

[Source: NY1]

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Turkish taxi of tomorrow design beats Nissan, Ford proposals among New Yorkers [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 14:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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