Lotus to develop new green taxis

The London taxi is in for a complete rethink as Lotus applies its technology to come up with a zero emissions cab by 2012.

Using an electric motor powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, the new taxi cab will be aimed primarily at London and will be introduced to other cities by 2014.

Lotus says this project pushes the development of fuel cells to the very limit of current thinking.

Two black cabs will be built as test-beds for the fuel cell and hydrogen storage tank and Lotus expects to start testing the cars within the next 18 months.

Lotus is also working on a green limousine based on the Jaguar XJ saloon.

The aim for this petrol-electric hybrid machine is to achieve carbon dioxide emissions of less than 120g/km.

It will use a small petrol engine and an advanced electric motor with compact battery pack and Auxiliary Power Unit for cruising at higher speeds.

Lotus is working on the green limo in conjunction with Jaguar and Caparo, the company behind the T1 supercar.

Lotus boss Mike Kimberley said: "We are committed to driving forward with high technology advances into areas such as hybrid and electric vehicles, and we are delighted to be major contributors to two of the low carbon vehicle development projects."

These two projects are part of a £23 million government-backed initiative to develop 16 new low carbon vehicle programmes in the UK.

Alisdair Suttie