Deploying Self-Driving Electric Taxis in NYC

We’ve covered air taxis extensively, but what about the earthbound variety? Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and UC Berkeley recently analyzed the cost, energy, and environmental implications of a fleet of self-driving electric vehicles, and the results are encouraging.

And yes, I immediately thought of the Johnny Cabs from Total Recall.

The researchers studied 10 million taxi trips in New York City, and by electrifying the fleet, they found that costs would be lowest with a battery range of 50 to 90 miles and either “66 slower Level 2 chargers per square mile or 44 faster Level 2 chargers per square mile.”

“Manhattan currently has about 500 chargers for public use, which include Tesla chargers,” noted Gordon Bauer, who authored the group’s piece "Cost, Energy, and Environmental Impact of Automated Electric Taxi Fleets in Manhattan.” “We found that we would need to at least triple that capacity,” he said.

For EVs, “The standard now is 200 miles. We suspected you wouldn't need as much for taxis. We found plenty of times during the day when a portion of taxis could slip off to recharge, even if just for a few minutes,” said Jeffery Greenblatt, one of the co-authors of the piece.

Compared to a fleet of automated, gas-powered taxis, self-driving, shared electric vehicles would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 73 percent and energy consumption by 58 percent.

The shared portion is critical, because automating the taxis would add $7,000 to $10,000 to the upfront cost, and the initial investment would eventually break even.

Read more about this study here: https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-03/dbnl-foa032718.php