New York City’s iconic yellow taxi cabs will soon take a decidedly uniform look when the Nissan NV200 takes over as the exclusive livery vehicle.
But a new report says that Nissan has been forced to make some changes to its NV200 for the mean streets of the Big Apple. While the NV200 is currently marketed in Europe and Asia, the ones that will hit the streets in New York will receive a longer wheelbase that stretches the van more than 8 inches. In part, the wheelbase will add more passenger leg room, but it also allows Nissan to relocate the gas tank.
A Nissan source told Automotive News that the tank was moved because of a complication that arose during a “side pole-impact test.”
“So we had to stretch it and move the fuel tank a little bit†rearward, the source told the publication. “The Americas will have one kind of NV200 and rest of the world will have the original type.â€
Of course, the Nissan will also receive such standard taxi add-ons like a clear partition between the driver and passengers. The vans will leave Nissan’s Cuernavaca, Mexico, assembly plant in full taxi configuration, which means they won’t require substantial additional upfitting at a later date.
The taxis are set to hit the streets of New York in 2013, but Nissan estimates that it will take several years for the rest of the city’s non-NV200 fleet to be retired. Currently, New York has a wide range of cabs, but the city decided to consolidate its efforts to improve overall efficiency.
References
1.’Nissan tweaks its…’ view
