Traffic turnaround: Hamburg spends 3.6 million euros on emission-free cabs
From 2025, Hamburg will allow only locally emission-free cabs. Already, one in five runs without a combustion engine, with the city investing 3.6 million euros.
Marrke Kia cab at charging station in Hamburg
(Image: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg)
As part of the "Future Taxi" project, Hamburg has subsidized the purchase of almost 700 battery or hydrogen-electric cabs and the associated fast-charging infrastructure since 2021. The city has so far spent almost 3.6 million euros on the locally emission-free vehicles. The city has already set aside two and a half million euros for this purpose.
Transport Senator Anjes Tjarks says: "Reducing COâ‚‚ emissions is an enormously important goal, especially for transport. Hamburg wants to save almost 1.4 million tons by 2030 compared to 2017. Together, we need to exploit the great COâ‚‚ savings potential of 25,000Â tons of COâ‚‚ per year due to the high mileage of cabs." The city is aiming to reduce emissions by at least 95Â percent by 2050 in order to achieve climate neutrality.
Fuel cell drive already on the decline again
Hamburg has already licensed 669 locally emission-free cabs. According to the city's press office, they have avoided the emission of 8854Â tons of carbon dioxide since the start of the project in 2021. Most of the subsidized taxis run on electricity from rechargeable batteries, while the number of hydrogen-electric vehicles has fallen from 35 to just 29. Vehicles that are already licensed are, of course, protected and can continue to be operated indefinitely.
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If only emission-free cabs are registered from 2025, no further funding is planned. The purchase of 50 vehicles can still be subsidized with 250,000 euros, says Hamburg's Senate. The subsidy will be paid out once the applications have been received. As high-capacity cabs with eight to nine seats or for wheelchair transportation do not have to be emission-free until 2027, it may still be possible to fund them for longer. The city is currently still in the decision-making process in this regard.
The "Future Taxi" project is supported by Deutsche Telekom, Stromnetz Hamburg, Hamburg Energie, HySolutions, Moia, Taxi Times, the Bundesverband Taxi und Mietwagen e. V. and several vehicle manufacturers and dealers, among others.
(fpi)