Soul Economy

As seen in The Sydney Morning Herald’s Sunday Life magazine, New York now has it’s first eco-luxury private car service on offer. In a city where the taxi-cab is ubiquitous if not emblematic, the OZOcar offers an environmentally responsible service where “luxury and responsibility co-exist.”

OZOcar is the first hybrid luxury car service for the beloved American city which offers only hybrid-electric vehicles (vehicles run on a combination of an efficient petrol motor combined with an electric motor) such as the Toyota Prius (the first mass produced hybrid vehicle and the most fuel efficent car sold in the U.S) and the Lexus Hybrid SUV. OZOcar now operates with a fleet of 100 hybrid cars designed for their fuel efficiency, lower emissions of greenhouse gases as well as reduced noise and increased horsepower. The features of the hybrid vehicle make it ideal for the constant stop-and-start of city driving as well as contributing to a much needed reduction on both air and noise pollution in metropolitan areas.

So how fuel efficient are the fleets? In Australian Government Standard Testing the Prius achieved fuel consumption of 4.4L/100km under controlled factory conditions. An achievement that makes a fuel consumption of 50% less than that of a comparably sized family vehicle. While the Lexus RX hybrid makes fuel savings of up to 30%.

OZOcar is the first and largest taxi service to go green but will not be the last. The company attributes the current push for susutainability in taxi cabs by New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg as a direct result of their own successes. Bloomberg’s announcement that 1,000 hybrid taxi cabs will be introduced by October 2008 and hybrids will replace conventional taxi cab vehicles by 2012 is seen as arising from the proven success of the OZOcar company. As the OZOcar website claims, “we continually prove to industry and city officials that there is a growing demand for environmentally responsible transportation in New York.”

In fact it seems to OZOcar mission is to prove skeptics on the profitability of sustainable practices wrong. The OZOcar bio states that owners Roo and Jordan “are making it their mission to break down the myth that sustainability and style must be at odds. And to prove that commerce and sustainability can co-exist.”

When there is a clear demand for sustainability, business practices will follow suit. In New York City yellow cabs could be green by 2012. Automobile companies are working toward producing more fuel efficient, environmentally friendly vehicles. Engineering editor of Road & Tracks magazine, Dennis Simanaitis claims that during the last decade, Honda has cut CO2 emissions by 10% in both its cars and their production; Volkswagen have engineered programs with biodiesel and cellulose ethanol and Nissan has unveiled a ‘Nissan Green Program 2010.

So where do we as Australians stand amid all these new developments? Late last year restrictions upon Taxi cab vehicles was relaxed so that operators are able to use the hybrid Toyota Prius in their fleets. And according to Drive.com.au, Melbourne can expect an influx of hybrid vehicles into taxi fleets as the Victorian Government is set to provide 50 cut-price peak taxi licences for hybrid cars this year.

So next time you hail a cab, forget the Silver Service and go green instead!

Tags: eco luxury car, lexu hybrid, OZOcar company, toyota prius