Fleet of electric private hire cars launched in London

A fleet of 20 BYD e6 electric cars has been introduced in London by private hire chauffeur operator Thriev.

Ten of the all-electric, zero-emission five-door hatchbacks are already in service and are powered by BYD rapid chargers and a London-wide British Gas charging network.

Thriev's group of vehicles are available to corporate and private users in the capital, and have an 186-mile range. They can be charged at Thriev's depot in Edgware Road as well as on the road at rapid-charging stations. Thirty minutes' worth of charge sees the batteries replenished by 80 per cent.

The e6 fleet can be booked via an Apple or Android app. GPS allows the called vehicle to be tracked in real-time. The app records the previous 30 days' reservations to help with expense management and enable fast repeat trip bookings.

The BYD vehicles join two fully-electric BYD buses that are already in service with Go-Ahead Group on two central Transport for London routes. As the service expands across the UK, it will eventually see each unit of electricity matched with a unit of 100% British renewable electricity.

Arvind Vij, cep and a co-founder of Thriev, said: "We are delighted to see the new BYD e6 private hire vehicles go into service in London. Thriev offers its customers a true revolution in transport, using modern technology to offer private hire services. Ultimately, our aim is to provide a zero-emission and cost-effective alternative to private car ownership in congested large cities".

Isbrand Ho, managing director of BYD Europe, said: "It is great to see our e6 on the roads of London in private hire service only a matter of weeks after we became the first manufacturer to have fully-electric buses in operation in the capital. We are delighted to be working with Thriev, which shares our vision to provide safe, reliable and efficient green transport in cities".

Further information
www.byd.com