Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/COVENTRY: China’s Geely is planning a significant investment to turn the maker of London’s iconic black taxis into high-volume, all-electric brands with a range of commercial and passenger cars, executives at the unit said.
According to Reuters, the London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) aims to expand its suite of services, which included cars arranging their maintenance and recognizing the owner’s keen interests to help them book activities.
“We need the developed product portfolio. We need to make large investments in infrastructure and technology,” LEVC Chief Executive Alex Nan said at the cab’s headquarters in Coventry, central England. “Geely could make consistent investments into LEVC because this is a unique project.”
London Black cabs turn into EV powerhouse
The LEVC builds a modern hybrid taxi model that starts at around 66,000 pounds, with a battery providing 64 miles of range and the petrol range-extender giving it a total capacity of over 300 miles. The pandemic hit the company’s business card, and it laid off 140 employees in October.
Nan said that LEVC and Geely could attract other investors to their zero-emission portfolio and partner with other carmakers to develop new advanced technology.
Executives said that the size of Geely’s investment could be disclosed later. So far, the Chinese group, which took over London Electric Vehicle Company in 2013, has invested 500 million pounds.
Geely said that it supports the new transition strategy laid out by LEVC’s executive and board team.
