Thanks to BYD e6, Colombia Now Has the Largest Electric Taxi Fleet in South America

Mark Kane

By: Mark Kane

Sep 17, 2013 at 1:00pm ET

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BYD e6

Earlier this month, BYD delivered a fleet of 45 e6 electric taxis to Bogotá, which makes the capital city of Colombia the place with the largest all-electric taxi fleet in South America.

The e6 fleet vehicles were all part of Colombia's "BIOTAXIS Project." Dr. Gustavo Petro Urrero, Mayor of Bogota stated:

"The purpose of this pilot is to replace conventional taxis with the electric taxis and show a visible benefit to investors due to the reduced operational cost of electric vehicles. Anybody who owns a combustion taxi in operation has the ability to replace it with an electric taxi now."

The import duty of hybrid bus, truck and CNG vehicles will be reduced down to 5% from 15%, while the import duty of pure electric bus, truck, taxi and private cars will be entirely eliminated."

What's more interesting, at least in regards to import duties, is this: "It’s anticipated that 2,250 pure electric vehicles will benefit from this act in just 3 years."

Colombia is investing in EVs because it believes that electrification will improve public health. Deputy Minister of the Department of the Environment and Sustainability, Dr. Adriana Soto Carreño, stated:

BYD e6 Taxis Lined Up for Service in China

"According to a report from the World Bank in 2012, the economic loss caused by air pollution in Colombia is 570 million pesos (local currency) every year, and pollution from dirty petroleum transportation may have played a role in as many as 5,000 deaths in the country. We hope other cities would also introduce pure electric and hybrid electric vehicles into public transportation, to reduce particulate matter and pollution and improve public health."

The BYD e6 has range of 300 km (about 187 miles) according to the company in the best of condition - but more like 120-130 miles in practical applications, which makes it possible to drive as a taxi for the full day. Moreover, BYD says that "using internally-developed bi-directional charging and discharging technology, the e6 can be fully charged in 2 hours (0-100%)".

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According to the Chinese manufacturer, to date over 800 e6s are running as public eTaxis and have accumulated mileage exceeding 100 million km (62 million miles):

"With over 800 e6 vehicles running as public eTaxis today, the e6 fleets have an accumulated range of over 100 million km (as of Aug, 1st, 2013). They are operated two shifts for nearly 24 hours with mid-day supplemental charging required."

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