Seoul Starts Testing Hybrid Taxis

The Seoul Metropolitan Government decided it was time to improve air quality in the city so the first move they made was to transform current gas taxis into hybrid ones. To do so, the city government concluded an agreement with the Ministry of Environment of Korea, Korea National Joint Conference of Taxi Association, Hyundai-Kia Motors and Korea LPG Association on December 1.

And since teamwork is the best solution when it comes to solving urgent issues, the tasks were divided. The Korea National Joint Conference of Taxi Association will therefore select participating taxi companies and support the monitoring of its operation, while Hyundai-Kia Motors will monitor and develop technologies, including analysis of vehicle components durability.

Furthermore, Korea LPG Association will support supply of fuel for the taxis, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Ministry of Environment will provide administrative supports. The hybrid taxi is, in fact, an LPI hybrid vehicle powered by Liquefied Petroleum Injection engine that was first developed in Korea.

A total of ten such taxis are running in the city by five taxi companies in Seoul, selected by the Korea National Joint Conference of Taxi Association. The vehicle is also installed with 15 kW electric motor as auxiliary power unit to generate electricity for charging the battery by recovering the motor with braking energy.

The hybrid taxi also stops the idling by shutting down the engine when the car is not running to prevent fuel consumption from unnecessary engine idling. The vehicle is expected to be especially effective for the taxi fleet as taxis spend most of the time waiting with their engine on.