Yahoo Gives Away Hybrid Taxis

May 14, 2007 by Todd Woody

Yahoo will donate a fleet of hybrid taxi cabs to the town that wins its "Greenest City in America" challenge. The giveaway marks the launch of Yahoo’s (YHOO) new eco-site Yahoo Green, which the Internet giant bills as a "one-stop resource for the growing number of environmentally-concerned consumers." So, how do you help your city score points so it can replace some of those carbon-belching yellow cabs with cleaner hybrid versions? By trading in the SUV for a Civic, perhaps? Or installing solar panels? Nah. You – and Yahoo – win by accumulating points when you go to Yahoo and ask environment-related question on Yahoo Answers, use "eco-friendly mobile search terms" on Yahoo’s mobile service, and take a green pledge to do things like use compact fluorescent light bulbs, adjust your thermostat by two degrees and carpool to work once a week. Yahoo will even send you an energy-efficient CFL. Yahoo will unveil the "greenest" – or at least the most Yahoo-friendly – city on June 8. It kicked off the contest today in New York City, where it’s giving the Big Apple a squadron of hybrid cabs – Ford (F) Escapes, judging by the photo. But if you really want to green up the taxi fleet, why not donate the much more fuel efficient, albeit smaller, Toyota (T) Prius or Honda Civic (HMC) hybrid. Heck, even a plain-vanilla Corolla gets better mileage than a hybrid SUV.

Posted in green cars | 14 Comments

14 Responses

on May 14, 2007 at 7:50 am | Reply Chris

How exactly would you propose riding around in a Prius taxi? What if you happen to have 2 or 3 friends that you’re riding around with?? You’re obviously not a regular taxi rider.

BTW: Even before this Yahoo! offer, the Ford Escape hybrids are starting to show up regularly in NYC. I’d say they’re 1 in 10-12 already.

Great blog – Chris
on May 14, 2007 at 9:06 am | Reply Jim from Philadelphia

This is a great idea – we should be a little worried about the size of the cabs, but people can squeeze in for the sake of the environment!

I’d put in a plug for Phildadelphia for this as the taxi commission will likely never get this done on their own. However, the city is working to create a “green” environment and the tallest “green” building in the US will be completed sometime over the next year.
on May 14, 2007 at 9:37 am | Reply SM

@Chris

If you are on road along with 3 of your friends needing a taxi – don’t ride the Prius cab – get a minivan. For the other 90% of the time you need a taxi – the Prius should be more than sufficient.
on May 14, 2007 at 10:07 am | Reply TG

Generally cabs are American brands. Have you ever noticed a cab or police car that wasn’t a Ford or Chevy? I don’t think you’d ever see a Toyota or Honda cab/police car/public transportation vehicle in the U.S. . .
on May 14, 2007 at 12:10 pm | Reply Enrique

All the American Car Companies are in bankruptcy and losing money. Toyota has surpassed GM as the leader in car sales in the world.
Either GM and Ford adapt to the market:Hydrogen cars and/or electric, or they will be history.
on May 14, 2007 at 1:32 pm | Reply James

If you’ve never seen an ‘import’ taxi, you’ve never been out of NYC. Here in Atlanta, I’ve seen practically every make and model of taxi there could possibly be. Granted they are not “Yellow Cabs” but they do exist mostly as Mexican taxi cabs. I feel certain that other parts of the country see this as well.
on May 14, 2007 at 2:32 pm | Reply Silicon Valley Watcher--reporting on the business and culture of disruption

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on May 14, 2007 at 2:41 pm | Reply ThunkDIfferent.com

Cool. i think i will lend a hand here. Buy American and write your congressional representative for more eco-friendly autos.

http://ThunkDifferent.com
on May 14, 2007 at 3:00 pm | Reply TG

To James’ point: I’m guessing those other cabs are single owner cabs, i.e. the person bought a car and turned it into a cab. I don’t think you’d ever see a large contract involving a state or local government go to a non-American brand of car. . .
on May 14, 2007 at 7:33 pm | Reply verne lundquist

I don’t get it – who gets the cabs? It’s not like cities own the cabs. Are they just going to sprinkle them across the various companies? Does Yellow Cab deserve the free handout?

I think a better promotion would be to give the city itself some hybrid vehicles for the municipal fleet.
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on May 19, 2007 at 2:36 am | Reply John Grant

I had exactly the same thought when Yahoo announced this
http://greenormal.blogspot.com/2007/05/but-could-be-even-better.html

In London there is a very successful private cab company called Green Tomato using only Prius hybrids. They are very comfortable and roomy passenger cars, with better legroom and visibility than a US old style cab IMHO. They are very popular with the corporations who have declared on carbon neutrality such as Murdoch’s BSkyB and several major banks.
on May 22, 2007 at 5:46 am | Reply drewva

There is absolutely no leg room in a current NYC cab (Ford Crown) – a Prius would actually be an improvement in this area.
on May 22, 2007 at 5:57 am | Reply Walk a few blocks in Comfortable Shoes

All this talk of hybrid vehicles makes me think of the times I have skipped a cab altogether and walked through New York City.
Invest in some comfortable shoes, create zero carbon emission, get some exercise and see this great city on foot.

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