Arabia Taxi adds 269 Tesla cars to its cab fleet in Dubai
The taxi company Arabia Taxi has put 269 Tesla Model 3 in service in Dubai. As reported, Dubai will only permit electrified taxis in the emirate from 2027. Arabia Taxi operates 6,000 vehicles throughout the United Arab Emirates, 83 per cent of which are hybrid taxis.
The Tesla cabs are, therefore, among the first fully electric ones and represent “a giant leap towards converting the company’s fleet to fully electric,” writes local media. The cars have been purchased with Tesla Dubai.
Arabia Taxi is a subsidiary of the Economic Group owned by Sheikh Majid bin Hamad Al Qasimi. He said the company was working on a strategic plan to convert the remaining vehicles into fully electric cars and was also considering the possibility of hydrogen-powered vehicles. For now, however, Arabia Taxi looked forward to “expanding its cooperation with Tesla and several electric car manufacturers,” so Al Qasimi.
The strategy follows the plan adopted by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai this February.
The emirate’s first electrification steps in the taxi sector date back to 2017. At that time, the RTA set a target of 50 per cent hybrids by 2021. In the meantime, a good two-thirds (72 per cent) of the taxis used in Dubai are hybrid vehicles. The rest of the fleet is to be electrified by 2027, whereby the plan now adopted includes battery and hydrogen taxis in addition to hybrids. The authority subsumes these under the term “environmentally friendly vehicles”.
Taxi Arabia is one of several taxis operating under the RTA’s jurisdiction in Dubai.
Ahmed Bahrozyan, the CEO of the RTA, said: “This step confirms the efforts of Arabia Taxi working to translate the directions of our wise leadership, to rationalize the use of energy in the UAE, and to create a safe, clean and sustainable environment that lives up to the level of reputation and prestige of the Emirate of Dubai, as well as promoting the Dubai government’s initiative to introduce green vehicles for a cleaner environment.”
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