Greentomatocars: first ever to use plug-in Prius

It's full-speed ahead for London's green taxi companies, where the Toyota Prius hybrid reigns supreme. Pioneering Greentomatocars, one of the youngest members of the green cab club, Climate Cars, has come incredibly far since it was first launched.

Now Greentomatocars takes the lead as it gets ready to add the 'Super Prius' to its 60-strong Prius fleet. It's London's first plug-in hybrid and the first in the world to be used as a taxi. Jonny Goldstone, director of Greentomatocars explains: "It's in the final stages of testing. We have made various improvements to the battery and diagnostics since the original conversion and performance is now consistent and extremely impressive -- up to 30 miles' range on pure electric and average consumption in excess of 100mpg. The final obstacle is getting the Public Carriage Office to approve its use as a licensed private hire vehicle -- green ideas wrapped up in red tape."

Nicko Williamson from Climate Cars confirms that Londoners really do want a greener way of being taxied around the city. He says: "We have expanded rapidly and doubled in size since we launched in June this year. We started with five cars and are taking delivery of our 10th this week and 11th next week and we aim to double in size again over the next few months."

Since the beginning of September, Climate Cars has been operating 24 hours a day and it now covers the whole of Central London, like Greentomatocars.

For more information on London's environmentally friendly cabs check out Greentomatocars, Climate Cars, Carmic Cars and Ecoigo.

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