The first batch of electric taxis developed by the Guangzhou Baiyun Taxi Group Co Ltd was put into service in Guangzhou, China in October 2018, aiming to relieve the high demand for taxis brought by the Guangzhou Baiyun Airport and Guangzhou South Railway Station.
According to the Baiyun Group, the first batch of electric taxis are new energy pure electric SUVs which are more spacious inside the car and in the trunk, but the flag fall fare is the same as regular taxis. It is also pointed out that the electric taxis can recharge its battery at a high speed by recovering 80% of electricity in around 30 minutes, thus allowing the taxi drivers to provide services frequently and efficiently. The other advantages of electric taxis are easy to repair, cost-saving, with little car noise, and most importantly, improving roadside air quality by reducing carbon emission.
The Chinese government has put the development of new energy vehicles in China as one of its top priorities in the 13th Five-Year Plan, so that many big cities in China, such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Qingdao and Hefei, have proposed their own new energy taxis planning. Apart from Guangzhou, the regional government of Shenzhen has also set the target of getting all taxis to go electric by the end of 2020, and is steadily progressing. In September 2018, the Shenzhen Bus Group Co Ltd has completely replaced all its regular taxis with the electric ones, such that it reaches a total number of more than 4,000 electric taxis and accounts for ¼ of taxis in Shenzhen.
Despite the advantages brought by electric taxis and its promising development in China, it is hoped that the Chinese government would be able to provide more financial assistance and subsidies for developing and promoting new energy vehicles, as many transport groups may encounter financial difficulty due to the large-scale development plan set by the regional governments.
Meanwhile, the development of electric taxis in Hong Kong did not go smoothly as it was reported that there was only one licensed electric taxi in Hong Kong in early 2018, which was way behind many regions in China.
