Hamburg to allow e-taxis only from 2025

No new cabs with internal combustion will be allowed to hit the road in Hamburg from 1 January 2025, Hamburg’s transport senator Anjes Tjarks announced. Hamburg is thus the first federal state in Germany to only allow new cabs with alternative drives.

Tjarks hopes that other cities will follow the Hanseatic city’s example. “We hope Hamburg’s decision will have a signal effect – for Germany and all of Europe,” says Tjarks.

Hamburg began promoting the switch to electric taxis with the “Future Taxi” project in 2021 (in German: Zukunftstaxi). More than 350 battery-electric and hydrogen-powered cabs (25 in total) are already on the city’s street. That corresponds to a share of twelve per cent and already saves around 2,000 tons of CO2 annually. “If we electrify the entire fleet in Hamburg, that’s 25,000 tons a year,” Tjarks says.

Demand for electric cabs is high, he says. No wonder, according to Tjarks, “electric taxis have shown themselves to be reliable, comfortable and cheaper in operation compared to internal combustion cabs.”

hamburg.de (in German)