China's coal city replacing gas taxis with electric

The northern Chinese city of Taiyuan is aiming to have replaced all its gasoline-powered taxis with electric ones by the end of 2016 to cut emissions.

Taiyuan, capital of the coal-rich Shanxi Province, started to gradually scrap its 8,292 conventional taxis and replace them with electric ones in February. More than 3,000 electric taxis are now in business on Taiyuan's roads, said an official surnamed Qin with the city's traffic management office.

The new taxis can do 400 km on a full charge, which takes two hours, Qin said.

They are priced at around 310,000 yuan (48,000 U.S. dollars). Taxi drivers are being asked to contribute 90,000 yuan, with the central and local governments paying the rest.

Taiyuan currently has more than 500 charging posts, and plans to increase that to 5,000 by the end of 2018.

"Unlike gas taxis, electric ones emit no tailpipe pollutants and benefit the environment," said a Taiyuan cabbie who has just got a green taxi.

Massive coal production powered Shanxi's economic advance in the past few decades. However, facing a flagging coal market and pollution pressure, the province is trying to reduce its reliance on the coal industry by developing new energy sectors, including a low-carbon urban transport system.

In addition to the green taxis, Taiyuan plans to put 3,000 electric buses on the roads within the next three years. Endi