EAV Taxi, a Pedal-Assisted Quadracycle That Will Replace Cars in Crowded Cities

No year has been better for electric bicycles and other types of electric two-wheelers than 2020, a year when people were forced to rethink and reorganize their daily commutes so as to avoid public transport and ride-sharing. The boom in adoption, along with travel restrictions, has translated into slight, albeit temporary, improvements in terms of air quality.

A long-term solution is needed, and it will have to involve something else than asking people to stay indoors. EAV Solutions from the United Kingdom is not banking on getting car owners to ditch their ICE vehicles to go for an electric bicycle (an impossible feat), but rather on getting business owners to change their fleet for something more convenient, cheaper to run and maintain, and more environmentally-friendly.

Working down from a traditional van (not upwards from a bicycle, as they’re adamant to stress on their official website), they developed what they call the next-generation eCargo vehicle. It’s also called EAV and it’s something like a quadracycle that’s pedal-assisted for maximum battery efficiency, with a modular structure that allows for a variety of uses.

So far, EAV has built cargo vehicles, ideal for last-mile deliveries and service fleets. They have run trials with supermarket chain Asda and service providers (like a clothes washing service) in London, and have declared them a success. Now, they’re looking farther into the future and setting a remarkably high goal: to replace taxis and ride-sharing vehicles with the same four-wheeled electric vehicle.

Meet the EAV Taxi.

Like the other offers in the EAV lineup, the Taxi is built on the same modular platform. The space used for hauling cargo has now been converted into a passenger area, where two people can sit in comfort, while ferried around. According to New Atlas, EAV came up with the idea for it after observing that most people in London take taxis for rides shorter than 8 km (5 miles) and usually ride alone, which means the carbon footprint is huge when you factor in the fact that over 200,000 taxi rides are being carried out every day in the British capital.

EAV Taxi is made with the same Cloudframe chassis, designed with minimum moving parts for ease of maintenance and “robust simplicity,” using fiber composite materials and recycled plastics and metals. Range is of 60 miles (96.5 km) per charge because of pedal-assist – so one such vehicle could replace several current taxi rides on one single charge before needing to go in to top it up.

Taxi has full suspension and side doors for protection from the elements, and could travel both on the road and on bike paths – and inside car-free, pedestrian zones found in most European cities. The rear bench is made with memory foam for a comfortable ride, and there’s a luggage compartment right under it. The cabin has heating and air-con, and a video display showing journey information.

Measuring 2.7 meters (8.8 feet) long, 2 meters tall (6.5 feet) and just 1 meter (3.2 feet) across, the EAV Taxi would also make a positive change in terms of relieving in-city congestion. Of course, this would only be possible with increased adoption of the vehicle, to the disadvantage of taxis and ride-share vehicles.

“We’re 90 percent lighter than any hybrid or electric car and, if we just replaced one hybrid Uber with an EAV Taxi, we would save about 9.2 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in one year alone,” Nigel Gordon-Stewart, Executive Chairman at EAV, tells the same media outlet. “Our energy usage is a fraction of an electric taxi and we don’t need an infrastructure to charge our batteries, just a normal plug socket.”

The first prototype of EAV Taxi will be unveiled this month, with plans to start deliveries in the spring of next year. Whether people will be willing to ditch a traditional black cab or a more comfortable Uber ride for this four-wheeled electric bike, well… that remains to be seen.