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Hybrid SUV Taxis Take to the Streets
Known worldwide for its historic cable cars,
San Francisco, California, now has another unique
mode of transportation.
“San Francisco is proud to be the first city
in the United States using hybrid SUVs as taxis,”
Mayor Gavin Newsom said as he welcomed ten 2005
Ford Escape Hybrid SUV taxis outside City Hall.
The gasoline-electric Ford Escape Hybrids are
owned and operated by Yellow Cab Cooperative,
which purchased them from San Francisco’s
S & C Ford. Earlier this year Luxor Cab Co.
of San Francisco began running a fleet of five
Escape Hybrid Taxis purchased from S&C Ford.
The Escape Hybrid has a full-hybrid system and
the highest fuel economy numbers for an SUV as
certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency – the front-wheel-drive model achieves
36mpg city and 31mpg highway. It produces 97%
less hydrocarbon and oxides of nitrogen than vehicles
meeting the Tier I emissions standard, qualifying
it for the stringent Advanced Technology Partial
Zero Emissions Vehicle (AT-PZEV) classification.
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