- The goal is to gradually replace at least 1,000 taxis by 2026 to decarbonize urban public mobility, with an investment of more than 100 million euros.
- The project will develop an innovative business model, “As-a-service”, which allows taxi professionals to make use of the hydrogen-electric vehicle at a competitive price compared to traditional technologies.
- Hydrogen electric vehicles are a perfect solution for taxi professionals as they will not change the way they work. They offer autonomy and refueling time similar to that of a combustion vehicle.
Madrid– The Madrid Taxi Professional Federation, the main independent and non-profit association of taxi professionals in the Community of Madrid is committed to green hydrogen as an alternative for innovation and commitment to the environment to face the challenge of the progressive decarbonization of urban land transport, and contribute to the improvement of air quality.
Thus, the Professional Taxi Federation of Madrid wants to develop a pioneering solution, the “Taxi as-a-service” project, which will allow taxi professionals to make use of the hydrogen-electric vehicle at a competitive cost compared to traditional technologies and without initial disbursements.
The first fleet of green taxis nationwide
The taxi sector wants to contribute to positioning Madrid as the leading European city for sustainable solutions in the field of public mobility, contributing to the development of the hydrogen value chain and the deployment of clean cars within the objectives of the Roadmap of Hydrogen and the recovery plan of the Next Generation EU program.
To promote this project, the Madrid Taxi Professional Federation has partnered with Madrileña Red de Gas, Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV), Toyota Spain, Grupo Ruiz, and PwC . Through this collaboration, the companies will advance their respective decarbonization, innovation, and environmental awareness strategies.
Madrileña Red de Gas and Fotowatio Renewable Ventures (FRV) will be responsible for developing the entire infrastructure for renewable production and recharging, as well as supplying hydrogen to the taxi fleet. For its part, Toyota Spain will be the supplier of fuel cell vehicles from the hand of Toyota Mirai – “future” in Japanese – which uses hydrogen to generate electricity and be able to move, with zero environmental impact since, due to its exhaust outlet, it only emits water, and PwC acts as a strategic advisor to the consortium.
The new Toyota Mirai offers a range of more than 600 kilometers, similar to that of a combustion vehicle, and takes between 3 and 5 minutes to refuel. In other words, it is an experience similar to that of conventional vehicles. Green hydrogen-electric vehicles use a fuel cell in which a chemical reaction takes place between hydrogen and oxygen in the air to generate electricity, which in turn powers an electric motor. Therefore, hydrogen-electric vehicles are a clean solution as well as perfect for taxi professionals, because they will not change the way they work.
To supply said green hydrogen, an electrolyzer of at least 10 MW would be built powered by a 20 MW photovoltaic solar plant, both projects located in the Community of Madrid, scalable with the progressive increase in demand.
The project is part of a more relevant ambition in the urban and peri-urban mobility segment, with the aim of meeting the demand for the taxis themselves, and increasing access to clean technologies. For this reason, the Ruiz Group, an expert company in the management of passenger transport by road and sustainable resources, also collaborates with the project in order to combine the best knowledge about urban mobility and add demand that allows providing the greatest competitiveness to the project.
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