Taxi of Tomorrow . Four companies were finally selected with Nissan ending up with the winning bid. Unfortunately the bidding process and vehicle development took some time. There were also court hearings regarding Nissan being the only choice. In the end, the replacement for the venerable Crown Victoria has been opened to many automotive makes and models, and the NV200-based cab has become just another choice for the independent cabbies and taxi companies in New York City. When hailing a cab in New York City today, one may end up with anything from a dying Crown Vic to a diesel Volkswagen Jetta. There are also Altimas, Camrys, Sonatas, Priuses, Escapes, Malibus, Highlanders, Transit Connects, even a Lexus RX. There are a slew of minivans, too. The really lucky riders can end up in one of several Mercedes E or ML diesels. Never before has NYC seen this much variety in its choices for a cab. The bad news is that you still can’t get a cab when you really need one. Of all the above mentioned vehicles, only the NV200 is developed for taxi duty from the factory. The other ones, even if they are commonly seen as taxis, have been modified with aftermarket taxi equipment. The NV200 is not limited to New York City and can be purchased by anyone at their local Nissan dealership for around $29,000 and it comes with a 150,000 mile warranty. Hit the jump to see more details of the Nissan NV-200 taxi. Manual sliding doors on both sides, barn doors in the back. The barn doors open to 90 degrees. They will open almost 180 degrees when a latch is removed. The wheels are 15″x5.5″, wrapped in 185/65-15 tires. They seemed small, but the Nissan rep reassured me that they can take a lot of abuse. The pictured wheels are aluminum, as required by NYC (supposedly) but I would imagine that a lot of cabbies will switch to steel wheels. This is pretty brilliant. Since the top light may not be visible from the rear (see other pic), the panels next to the rear glass illuminate when the cab is available for a fare and/or when the sliding door is open, alerting bikers and other drivers of passengers possibly getting out. Cab number and “vacant” roof light. Under the white light is a yellow light which illuminates for a few seconds after the horn has been pressed. It does several things; when the cab has arrived it becomes more visible after the driver beeped (tho you can’t call for a cab in NYC, only hail), with quiet zones it forces the driver to use his horn less frequently, and finally possible security measure. Credit card reader, rear touch screen, and the meter are the only items not made by Nissan. 2.0-liter DOHC four-banger is known for lasting long and being fuel efficient, but it only has 131hp. It is coupled to a CVT. The NV taxi gets 23mpg in the city and 26mpg on the highway. 14.5 gallon tank allows for a rather low range of 377 miles. Rear passenger climate control, 12v receptacle, and two USB ports for charging (BYO cable). Simple dash layout. Everything is placed very logically and within easy driver access. There are cubbies and cup-holders too. Meter will be mounted above the radio/nav display so that it is visible to passengers. The partition is fixed, unlike on most cabs where the center piece can be rolled down. If the customer is paying cash, the money gets slid down under the window on the passenger side of the car. The front passenger seat needs to be folded for that reason, which means a front passenger cannot be present when someone from the rear seat is paying. Manual sliding side windows in each sliding door are big enough to allow fresh air but small enough to offer a sense of security. Seatbelt buckles are yellow for better visibility. The bench is roomy, sitting position is higher and is easy to get in and out of. There is a ton of leg-room. That wasn’t the case for the Crown Vic. Another interesting bit: side curtain airbags has been redesigned into to two pieces in this vehicle to work with the partition in place. I would image that those usually get disabled on vehicles where the partition is simply throw into place. It’s no Crown Vic trunk and that’s not a bad thing. Flat floor at knee level means that rolled luggage can be throw in without breaking one’s back. Lots of space, too. Vinyl-like, breathable, easy to clean, carpets and easy to clean seats everywhere. The fabric supposedly rejects odors. The power step is a nice feature. It comes when the side door is open. It can be disabled. Given the amount of low speed accidents and curb hopping NYC taxis do, I foresee these being damaged, disabled, or removed. These buttons are located on the center console. “RR A/C RESET” syncs the rear climate control with the front settings. It’s helpful if a customer got out of the cab and left the settings in meat locker cold or sauna hot. On the driver’s portion of the cab, the intercom speaker is located behind the driver. The intercom works only when it’s turned on in both compartments. This gives the ability for the passenger not to listen to what’s playing on cabbie’s radio and for the cabbie not to listen to passengers’ phone conversations. That said, at idle this intercom wasn’t really needed as conversations could be had with the partition in place. Doors are very low to the ground making entry and exit easier. There will be handicapped accessible versions of the Nissan too. Here is a surprise, it has leaf springs in the rear. And it only comes in yellow. link 1 , link 2 . Sorry about the oddly captioned photos in caps, I was having WordPress issuses which seemed to have corrected themselves since I started writing this. All images ©2014 Hooniverse/Kamil Kaluski. All Rights Reserved.
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Sometime ago New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission solicited bids for the Taxi of Tomorrow. Four companies were finally selected with Nissan ending up with the winning bid. Unfortunately the bidding process and vehicle development took some time. There were also court hearings regarding Nissan being the only choice. In the end, the replacement for the venerable Crown Victoria has been opened to many automotive makes and models, and the NV200-based cab has become just another choice for the independent cabbies and taxi companies in New York City. When hailing a cab in New York City today, one may end up with anything from a dying Crown Vic to a diesel Volkswagen Jetta. There are also Altimas, Camrys, Sonatas, Priuses, Escapes, Malibus, Highlanders, Transit Connects, even a Lexus RX. There are a slew of minivans, too. The really lucky riders can end up in one of several Mercedes E or ML diesels. Never before has NYC seen this much variety in its choices for a cab. The bad news is that you still can’t get a cab when you really need one. Of all the above mentioned vehicles, only the NV200 is developed for taxi duty from the factory. The other ones, even if they are commonly seen as taxis, have been modified with aftermarket taxi equipment. The NV200 is not limited to New York City and can be purchased by anyone at their local Nissan dealership for around $29,000 and it comes with a 150,000 mile warranty. Hit the jump to see more details of the Nissan NV-200 taxi. 
Jeff Glucker