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The return on investment for taxi companies transitioning to electric vehicles

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  • Tommy Carpenter
  • Andrew Curtis
  • S. Keshav

Abstract

We study whether taxi companies can simultaneously save petroleum and money by transitioning to electric vehicles. We propose a process to compute the return on investment of transitioning a taxi corporation’s fleet to electric vehicles. We use Bayesian data analysis to infer the revenue changes associated with the transition. We do not make any assumptions about the vehicles’ mobility patterns; instead, we use a time-series of GPS coordinates of the company’s existing petroleum-based vehicles to derive our conclusions. As a case study, we apply our process to a major taxi corporation, Yellow Cab San Francisco (YCSF). Using current prices, we find that transitioning their fleet to battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles is profitable for the company. Furthermore, given that gasoline prices in San Francisco are only 5.4 % higher than the rest of the United States, but electricity prices are 75 % higher; taxi companies with similar practices and mobility patterns in other cities are likely to profit more than YCSF by transitioning to electric vehicles. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Tommy Carpenter & Andrew Curtis & S. Keshav, 2014. "The return on investment for taxi companies transitioning to electric vehicles," Transportation, Springer, vol. 41(4), pages 785-818, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:41:y:2014:i:4:p:785-818
    DOI: 10.1007/s11116-013-9486-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Armando Cartenì & Ilaria Henke & Clorinda Molitierno & Luigi Di Francesco, 2020. "Strong Sustainability in Public Transport Policies: An e-Mobility Bus Fleet Application in Sorrento Peninsula (Italy)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-19, August.
    2. Luis Oliveira & Arun Ulahannan & Matthew Knight & Stewart Birrell, 2020. "Wireless Charging of Electric Taxis: Understanding the Facilitators and Barriers to Its Introduction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-21, October.
    3. Miao, Hongzhi & Jia, Hongfei & Li, Jiangchen & Qiu, Tony Z., 2019. "Autonomous connected electric vehicle (ACEV)-based car-sharing system modeling and optimal planning: A unified two-stage multi-objective optimization methodology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 797-818.
    4. Kang, Seong-Cheol & Lee, Hoyoung, 2019. "Economic appraisal of implementing electric vehicle taxis in Seoul," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 45-52.
    5. Casper Boongaling Agaton & Angelie Azcuna Collera & Charmaine Samala Guno, 2020. "Socio-Economic and Environmental Analyses of Sustainable Public Transport in the Philippines," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-14, June.
    6. Yang, W.H. & Wong, R.C.P. & Szeto, W.Y., 2018. "Modeling the acceptance of taxi owners and drivers to operate premium electric taxis: Policy insights into improving taxi service quality and reducing air pollution," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 581-593.

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