S.F. first U.S. city to adopt hybrid SUVs for taxi service
Quote:
The City turned a shade greener Tuesday when it became the first metropolis in the United States with hybrid sport utility vehicles in the taxicab fleet. The first hybrid-electric SUV to be released, the 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid, recently joined the San Francisco fleets of Yellow Cab Cooperative and Luxor Cab Co.
As he stood in front of a row of the 15 SUVs, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom welcomed the Escape Hybrids and praised the environmental qualities of the vehicle during a Tuesday roll-out ceremony at Civic Center Plaza downtown.
I drive for one of the companies in San Francisco that has a few FEHs. I've had the chance to drive one twice. The first time out I got something like 27MPG (taking it easy on the throttle, hadn't discovered the trip computer yet.) The second time I averaged about 34, which included several freeway trips (no more than 62MPH) and also a lot of attempts at optimizing. If you don't have traffic behind you to deal with on flat stretches, you can deal with block-by-block stop signs without having the engine kick in very much.
Bearing that in mind, if you were to try and drive the thing like a cab driver normally would, especially considering SF's hills, I would expect around 25. Other drivers who drive them regularly tell me they're now paying $10/day vs. $20+ with the Crown Vics.
side note - the day after my second shift with the FEH I experimented with shutting the engine of the Crown Vic off at lights, coasting down hills in neutral, accelerating ve-e-ery slowly from stops etc., and couldn't do better than 16 or so.
I've had no negative comments and a lot of positive ones. A lot of people say it's easier to enter/exit the Escape, and that it feels roomier once they're inside. A few are interested in hearing about the technology (as much of it as I'm able to describe, anyway.)
I've had no negative comments and a lot of positive ones. A lot of people say it's easier to enter/exit the Escape, and that it feels roomier once they're inside. A few are interested in hearing about the technology (as much of it as I'm able to describe, anyway.)
Thanks for the info Ben. You are helping me prove a point on another forum !!
___Thank you for your real world experiences. I don’t think anyone would have a problem with comfort over a 10 - 20 minute ride but I assume you are in the driver seat for 8, 10, 12 or more hours. How does it feel to you is the more important question?
___Secondly, the FE you are receiving sounds phenomenal given your location. **** fine job if I say so myself! Most Crown Vic driver’s in and around the Chicago area are either bashing the binders or on the Accelerator at WOT with not much in between by the looks of it. Even out on the Tollway they are usually running 70 - 75 with our 55 mph limits.
Thanks for the info Ben. You are helping me prove a point on another forum !!
Oh Lars, you are so transparent :-)
As soon as I saw your question to sftaxi, I knew *exactly* where you were going with it. I could almost picture you physically carrying the response over to the "other forum" and presenting it proudly to you-know-who.
S.F. first U.S. city to adopt hybrid SUVs for taxi service
