August 2021

TRANSPORTATION n All-electric black cab developer aims to make cities greener A Coventry-based company that specialises in converting taxis to all-electric operation has announced plans to expand its capacity to convert up to 10,000 taxis and commercial/privately owned vehicles per year by 2026. The Dynamo Motor Company (DMC) raised most of the £2m it needed for the first stage of the expansion in less than a week through the crowdfunding site Seedrs. It is planning to expand its workforce from 25 to around 300. Dynamo, which released its first vehicle in 2019, claims to be the only company to be offering all-electric London black cabs. It plans to diversify into other areas including vehicles with wheelchair access, as well as a last-mile electric delivery vans. It has already supplied more than 170 cabs, which are operating in Nottingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, Coventry and Manchester, as well as London. The Dynamo taxis are based on Nissan e- NV200 Evalia MPV and require more than 1,000 modifications to the base vehicle – including incorporating a 25-foot turning circle. More than £10m of r&d has gone into developing the taxis which cost £47,995 each, including £7,500 grant. The company says that this is around £10,000 cheaper than a plug-in hybrid-electric competitor. The taxis are powered by 80kW AC synchronous motors that deliver up to 254Nm of torque and have a top speed of 10,500 rpm. The 40kWh, 360V lithium-ion batteries achieve a range of up to 273km (170 miles) and can be recharged in 40-60 minutes on a rapid charger, or in 7h using a 7kW home charger. “We’re on a mission to change the way people move around the UK, especially in built-up areas like cities where pollution is a problem,”says of Dynamo Motor Company’s founder, Brendan O’Toole.“In 2019, exactly 100 years since the first new post-war taxi was launched, we introduced the world’s first zero- emission black cab. Today, we have big plans to scale up our commitment to all-electric mobility conversions including an updated black cab, professionally and privately-owned wheelchair accessible vehicle conversions. “Our fundraiser will assist in our mission to further our commitment to UK jobs and working with suppliers to increase their growth and further introduce all-electric mobility solutions.” n The Dynamo Motor Company’s electric taxis have a range of up to 273km on one charge IMPLEMENTATION GLOBAL SUPPORT Shape the engineering of tomorrow. Ease of use, strong performance: Let the new EPLAN Platform 2022 inspire you! You can look forward to a completely new user interface with a practical dark mode, a flex- ible new ribbon, a backstage view and much more. Furthermore, our complementary cloud-based services open up new possibilities for collaboration across teams. Discover more: www.eplan.co.uk/itsinyourhands