Taxi cabs must withstand an enormous amount of abuse daily. Sometimes driven twenty hours a day, taxis must cope with both inexperienced drivers and unsatisfactory roads. Venturebeat.com’s John Voelcker recently blogged about the decision of the U.S. Department of Transportation to allow the use of battery-switching for electric taxi cabs in the San Francisco area. This would allow for the taxis to replace a worn-out battery at strategically placed “battery switch stations” stretching from San Francisco to San Jose.
This decision is interesting on various levels. First, on a practical note, the reliability and pragmatic abilities of a battery-powered taxi cab can be argued. The abuse the average taxi cab takes on a daily basis is far beyond the structured capabilities of the fragile, battery powered cars manufactured in recent years. This program of battery-switching stations was first instituted in Tokyo six months ago with mixed success.
This decision will greatly please the general public of California. This option of ecologically-friendly cars will help cut gasoline and other car-related emissions from harming the environment. In a city as large and densely populated as San Francisco, this will surely impact the general health of the area.
Financially, the decision for taxi companies to use this method will cut costs generated by rising gasoline prices. Also, the time saved by switching batteries compared to the time spent pumping gas can lead to more customers long term. On average, Better Place (the creators of the battery-switching stations) reported a switch took merely 60 seconds. Personally, I have been in a cab on numerous occasions. If a cab driver were to ever pump gas while I was in the vehicle, I would not take this kindly. This situation of a 60 second battery change can also lead to more generous tips given to the cab drivers.
In my opinion, this is a very economical and technologically advanced decision by the greater San Francisco area to incorporate this advantage. As a college student, I am fully aware of the importance of taxi cabs in a college town. The trail from San Francisco to San Jose hosts schools such as Stanford, which educates approximately 15,000 students in the undergraduate program alone. The business decision alone would convince firms in the area to adopt this technologically advanced system. Combined with the ecological benefits, San Francisco will greatly benefit from this battery-powered decision.
http://venturebeat.com/2010/11/01/want-to-hail-an-electric-taxi-cab-head-for-san-francisco/
Here is a demonstration of the battery-switching process:
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