NEW METROCAB

The New Metrocab is very real and is in operation as we speak. Many of you will have seen one of the Metrocabs driving around London, and some of you have already driven them.

The technology all works, and has been tested for almost a decade on various test mules and prototype vehicles and covered hundreds of thousands of miles.

Yes, we are very much real. We are part of a group of companies with a history going back nearly 100 years, and consisting of a number of successful organisations.

You all know Bristol Cars with the famous showroom in Kensington – we bought Bristol in 2011 and are bringing back to market new cars and a new lease of life for this historic brand.

Frazer-Nash is our core research and development company and customers of the advanced hybrid systems include major car companies from the Far East and Europe.

One of our companies is a carbon fibre supplier to almost all of the Formula 1 teams based in the UK, and to the MoD.

We are also involved in energy storage and management technologies for a variety of applications.

The vehicle has electric motors (the drive system), a lithium battery, and a 1 litre internal combustion engine fuelled by petrol which is connected to an electrical generator.

The vehicle drive is 100% electric, 100% of the time. The drive system drives the rear wheels independently. The energy for this comes from the “traction battery”. When the battery is discharged, the vehicle will automatically start the internal combustion engine.

The internal combustion engine revs at the most efficient speed, and is permanently connected to the generator. The generator generates electricity and this recharges the battery.

This happens automatically while you are driving – there is no “downtime” necessary to allow the vehicle to recharge. This is important. We do not believe a pure battery-electric vehicle which requires plug-in charging will meet your requirements.

There are several modes of operation. For best fuel efficiency, plug the car into a charging station (we provide one in the boot that connects to your domestic mains) and charge the battery.

Depending on your electricity tariff, this should cost you about 50p (at night) to £1 (during the day). This allows you to drive the car for a bit more than 30 miles, after which the engine will turn on automatically and recharge the battery using the petrol in the petrol tank. You will not have any interruption in service.

The Metrocab does not need to be plugged in. Plugging-in to charge will improve your MPG (some energy to drive will come from the grid). But if you can’t, the vehicle will always operate in the “Range-Extender Mode” with the petrol engine charging the battery.

You will still see significant fuel savings in this mode of operation when compared to a conventional vehicle.

As noted above, we believe that a pure battery-electric vehicle is not suitable for the rigours of a taxi service. You just need to fill up the 22 litre tank at the petrol station like normal. Even with only 22 litres you will see an improvement in range over conventional cars.

This is the purpose of the London Trial, and any subsequent Trials that may follow – so we can get your feedback, and roll it in to the production vehicle.

We have already taken some comments from drivers and made changes in the Trial Metrocabs.

The Metrocab is a bespoke taxi. It is being designed for the cab trade. It is not a conversion of another vehicle.

Before we commit to final production tooling, we want feedback from the trade, our customers; the passengers; and our regulator(s), including Transport for London to make sure the Metrocab is fit for purpose and is “future-proofed”.

This is a very unusual strategy. A big carmaker would not run a vehicle publically in this way, nor would it engage with its customers so directly. However, we are not a big carmaker!

We depend on you, on your customers and on our regulator – and need to make sure we are manufacturing the right vehicle. So we will run the Trial in London for a few months and collect feedback.

We have implemented several mechanisms to collect data, and if you are one of our selected drivers you will be aware of these. We may at a later date expand the Trial to other cities in the UK.

Some would have seen the Trial Metrocabs going to the test centre in Heston for CoF assessments.

The Metrocab has been designed to meet the CoF – including the turning circle. It is not a converted car or van.

We are very pleased to say that the vehicles have been assessed and TfL have issued the Metrocab license plates as of a couple of months ago.

Of course we support the initiatives to reduce emissions in London, some of us live there! We are working very closely with TfL (as I’m sure the other taxi manufacturers are) in the ULEZ consultation and have no doubt that the Metrocab will be ULEZ-compatible from the moment it is released.

On a practical note, we understand there are a lot of concerns about the ULEZ in the Trade. It is worth pointing out, that with a newer, more fuel efficient, zero-emissions capable taxi like the Metrocab, you can save potentially thousands of pounds per year.

One study undertaken by one of our investors suggested a driver switching from a well-known competitor to a Metrocab could see a first-year savings in the region of £9000 in fuel, servicing, and taxes, depending on how they drive.

We anticipate a longer service interval when compared to a conventional vehicle. The electric motors, the batteries, and the power electronics do not need servicing.

The internal combustion engine will require the usual oil and filter changes, but as it is only on to drive the generator, the servicing is based on engine hours instead of on miles. Otherwise there are the usual consumables (wipers and brake pads etc). Brakes will wear less because the Metrocab has regenerative braking (where energy from braking is stored as electrical energy in the battery).

We are working on setting up the infrastructure for when the vehicle goes on sale – by that we mean there will be a service centre in London itself to start, with all the appropriate tools and training.

There are numerous concerns over the lifespan of the “traction battery” as it’s known. In a range-extender vehicle like ours the battery sees less “abuse” than in a battery-only vehicle.

This means that the battery is better taken care of. We are aware that in some experiments overseas, battery-only vehicles suffer from range reduction after relatively short periods of time. This is again why we do not believe in a battery-electric solution.

Our battery will be good for years. We cannot comment exactly on what the warranty will be. We know we have to have the confidence of our customers to succeed!

Finally, it’s worth reminding you again that the Metrocab doesn’t depend on the battery – there is always the petrol engine.

We are unable to specify a figure on replacement cost at this moment- expect a detailed announcement on things like this prior to the general release of the Metrocab.

As noted, the battery will undergo a less arduous duty cycle than in a battery-only electric vehicle so will last for years. Apologies for being so vague, we have spent many years working on this and have a lot of intellectual property associated with maintenance of the battery over its service life, so we want to release this information in a comprehensive way further down the line.

The Metrocab will be manufactured in the UK and all the engineering has been undertaken in the UK. The UK (and the world generally) has got a massive excess of car production capacity at the moment in the region of millions of cars, so we will work to take up some of that excess with production partners.

We are working to bring the Metrocab to market with a major worldwide automotive Tier 1 supplier who has a turnover of circa £600 million and who is a major player in manufacturing in the UK. Put it this way, most cars manufactured in the UK have at least some components from this supplier in them.

• Huge savings in fuel bills, taxes, and servicing.
• A more comfortable, ergonomic driving position.
• Plenty of torque from the electric motors for a quick drive – max speed is limited to 80mph.
• A more refined ride with the electric drive and with self-levelling air suspension.
• USB charging for you, and WiFi.
• More storage space.
• LED lights all round including daytime running lights and main/dipped beams for a more distinctive look and energy saving.
• Wheelchair access from both sides – and a kneel function too (the normal floor height is better than TfL’s requirement – the kneel function brings the floor even lower!).
• Space for 6 passengers and their luggage – option for a front passenger.
• Finally, something that is a hackney carriage – but with a modern look.

We will be continuing with the London Trial - On completion we will then look into expanding the trial to other UK and worldwide cities to continue to gather feedback from drivers and passengers.

Regarding the general release, initially we are looking to launch the Metrocab into the London market with the view of eventually introducing the cab to certain other cities on a global scale.

We are currently evaluating the feedback from the trial to roll it into our final engineering design. There will be vehicles starting to hit the road from 2016, and they will become readily available by 2017.

As to the price, unfortunately we are not at liberty to tell you right now, but we can say this – it will be less expensive than some of the higher price rumours circulating at the moment. We are aware if it is too expensive they will not sell and are working hard to bring the cost down.

The Metrocab will be in the same ballpark as the competition, and this will be before government incentives. We are also lobbying hard to ensure that the plug-in grant will not only just apply but will hopefully by increased in value because of the high impact of a zero-emissions capable vehicle in a city centre.