Japan’s MK Group uses electric BMWs as taxis

Japan’s MK Group has added 35 BMW electric cars in its taxi divisions in Tokyo and Kyoto. In the Japanese capital, the company is now using 20 BMW i7s, while in Kyoto a further ten BMW i7s and five BMW iXs have entered service.

The taxi business in the two cities is run by different subsidiaries of the group, Kyoto MK and Tokyo MK. For Kyoto, the operators have set themselves the goal of achieving an electric share of 30 per cent in the entire taxi fleet by 2025 and a share of 100 per cent by 2030. In addition to the new BMW electric vehicles, Kyoto MK already uses the all-electric Mercedes-Benz EQC as well as hybrid models from Toyota and Lexus, among others.

MK was founded in Kyoto in 1960 and operates in various industries. Among other things, the group operates amusement shops (such as a bowling alley in Kyoto), petrol stations as well as sightseeing buses and school buses in Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Aichi. In the taxi and rental car business, the MK Group says it has subsidiaries in eight regions of Japan (Kyoto, Sapporo, Tokyo, Nagoya, Shiga, Osaka, Kobe and Fukuoka). The fleet is said to include a total of 2,000 taxis, rental cars and buses.

carbuzz.com, press.bmwgroup.com (press release in Japanese)