More and more drivers and fleet owners are asking whether it makes sense to switch to a hybrid or electric car. Fuel prices keep rising, some manufacturers offer attractive financing and in several cities electric taxis are already on the road. But in a regional city the decision isn't as simple as in a capital: there are fewer chargers, distances can be long and specialised maintenance isn't always nearby.
The thesis of this article is that there's no single answer: a hybrid or electric car can be an excellent deal for a taxi that covers many kilometres a day within the city, and a bad deal for one that makes long highway trips or has nowhere to charge. The decision is made with your own numbers, not the manufacturer's advertising. We'll look at what sets each type of car apart, how to do the maths, what happens with charging and maintenance, how the type of trips in your fleet matters and how to test before changing the whole fleet.
Hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric
Before doing the maths, it's worth being clear on the differences. A conventional hybrid runs on petrol but recovers energy when braking and uses it to move the car at low speed; it isn't plugged in and uses less fuel, especially in the city. A plug-in hybrid has a larger battery charged from the mains and can cover a few dozen kilometres on electricity alone before using petrol. A pure electric car uses no petrol: it depends entirely on the battery and on where to charge it.
For a taxi in a regional city, the conventional hybrid is usually the easiest step: it needs no new infrastructure, the driver fills up with petrol as always and the savings show from day one in city traffic. The electric car can save more, but it requires solving charging. The plug-in hybrid sits in between, and its advantage depends on it actually being charged every day.
How to do the maths
The honest comparison isn't between the price of one car and another, but between what each one costs over the years it will work. A car that's more expensive to buy can work out cheaper if it saves enough on fuel and maintenance. To compare them, gather this data from your own operation:
- Kilometres a taxi in your fleet covers per day and per month.
- Current fuel cost per kilometre.
- Price of electricity or fuel in your city.
- Purchase price difference and financing options.
- Expected maintenance cost for each type of car.
- Years you plan to use the car and its resale value.
The figure that weighs most is mileage. A taxi that covers many kilometres a day recovers the price difference faster, because the saving per kilometre multiplies. One that works few hours may take so many years to recover it that it isn't worth it. That's why it's best to do the maths with your drivers' real mileage, which you can get from your own trip history, rather than a general average.
It also matters who pays for the car and who keeps the savings. If the driver owns the vehicle, the fuel saving is theirs and the decision is personal. If the fleet owns the cars and the driver pays for fuel, the fleet puts up the extra money and the driver keeps the saving, unless the fee is adjusted. It's worth clarifying that split before buying, so the change is fair to both.
Charging: the deciding point in a regional city
With an electric car, the key question isn't the range the manufacturer advertises, but where and for how long the driver charges. If they have a garage with a suitable outlet and can charge overnight, the car leaves every morning with a full battery and the problem almost disappears. If they live in a flat without their own parking, they'll depend on public chargers, which in many regional cities are still few.
Charging time is also time not working. A driver who has to stop for an hour mid-shift to charge loses trips, and at a peak hour that matters. Before choosing an electric car, it's worth checking how many chargers there are in your city, where they are, how fast they are and whether they're available when your drivers would need them.
Some fleets solve charging by installing one or two chargers at their own base or in the car park where they keep the cars. It's an investment, but it lets drivers without a garage charge overnight without depending on the public network. If the fleet grows its electric cars, this is usually what makes the change possible.
We tried two hybrids before changing more cars. After six months, the drivers of those two were spending quite a bit less on petrol than the rest and had no maintenance problems. We're not ready for electric cars yet, because there are hardly any chargers in the city and most of our drivers don't have a garage.
Maintenance and workshops
Hybrids and electric cars usually need less routine maintenance: electric cars have no oil changes and fewer parts that wear out, and brakes last longer thanks to energy recovery. But when something fails, the repair may need a specialised workshop and parts that aren't always quick to get in a small city. A taxi off the road for a week waiting for a part wipes out a good share of the savings.
Before deciding, ask the workshops in your city whether they service that model, how long a part takes to arrive and whether the dealer has a service centre nearby. It's also worth checking what the battery warranty covers and for how many years or kilometres, because it's the most expensive part of the car.
And think about resale too. In many regional cities there's still a small market for used hybrids and electric cars, so their value when you sell them may be lower than expected.
The type of trips in your fleet
Not every fleet uses its cars the same way. A fleet that works almost all day within the city, with short trips, lots of traffic and frequent stops, is exactly where hybrids and electric cars perform best. A fleet that makes many trips to other cities, by highway at steady speed, benefits less from those advantages, and an electric car may find itself with nowhere to charge halfway.
Climate matters too. Air conditioning uses energy, and in very hot cities it reduces an electric car's range more than the manufacturer usually mentions. It's best to ask other taxi drivers or fleets in a city with a similar climate how it has worked for them in practice.
Testing before changing the whole fleet
The safest way to decide is to test with a few cars. One or two hybrids or electric cars, with drivers willing to keep a record of what they spend and the problems they run into, give within a few months a far more reliable answer than any theoretical calculation. Compare their spending with that of similar cars in the fleet doing the same kind of trips.
If the numbers come out well, the change can be made gradually, as the current cars reach the end of their working life. That way you don't risk everything at once, and the fleet learns along the way where to charge, which workshop works and which model suits the city best.
For the test to be useful, the record has to be simple and consistent: kilometres covered, spending on fuel or electricity, time lost charging, workshop visits and any problem with the car. A shared sheet the driver fills in each week is enough. At the end of the test, that data shows clearly whether the change is worth it in your city.
Deciding with your own numbers
A hybrid or electric car can greatly reduce a taxi's running costs, but only if it fits the way your fleet works: lots of city kilometres, a safe place to charge and a workshop that can service it. Without those conditions, the promised savings may stay in the brochure. The right decision comes from your own kilometres, your own trips and a small test before changing on a large scale.
If you're considering the change, start by working out your drivers' real mileage, check how many chargers there are in your city and ask workshops about the model you're interested in. And with Cabgo you can launch your own branded taxi app and use your trip history to make decisions like this one with real data.
