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NYC Yellow Cab Fleet to Include Tesla Model 3

Tesla had a rockin’ quarter in terms of manufacturing and deliveries, and as ever, the Model 3 leads the charts. Exactly 96,155 were produced in Fremont and 97,000 delivered all across the world, and the electric sedan keeps gaining momentum as Elon Musk prepares to take on the Chinese market.
Yellow Tesla Model 3 25 photos
Photo: u/mechrec on reddit
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Gigafactory 3 is the name of the gargantuan facility in Shanghai, the place where Tesla is already undergoing trial production of the 3. Not long now, the Model Y crossover will follow suit with the same drivetrain and battery options as the electric sedan on which it’s based. Tesla China is estimated to start Model 3 deliveries in the Middle Kingdom in early 2020.

Turning our attention back to the U.S. of A., Elon Musk and New Yorkers have another reason to celebrate the Model 3 because taxi companies are starting to switch to this fellow. Following the example of the taxi fleets in Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, and Columbus Yellow Cab, the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission has approved the Model 3 to become a yellow cab in NYC as well.

Electrek reader Brent Caswell supplied an infographic of the nameplates compatible with this type of activity in New York, and the Model 3 is listed as “unrestricted medallion,” meaning “no accessibility requirement.” Only the 2019 model year is approved by the commission, but strangely enough, the Tesla Model 3 doesn’t qualify for the “alternative fuel medallion” vehicle. The reason for this quirk is that only hybrids and vehicles running on natural gas are considered to run on alternative fuel.

While Tesla is working on a battery pack capable of lasting 1 million miles with minimal degradation, the batteries in the Model 3 should be good for at least 300,000 miles. The most important part of driving a Model 3 as a taxi in New York is the low maintenance cost and ease of ownership, but on the other hand, charging the electric sedan from anything other than a Supercharger translates to a bit of downtime.

The cabbies will also have a blast explaining to passengers how the exterior handles work, let alone the buttons to open the doors from the inside. And on that note, yellow should become an official color option for the 3.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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