London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC), formerly The London Taxi Corporation Limited, is a British automotive manufacturer with its headquarters at Ansty Park near Coventry, England. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese automaker Geely. The company produces London’s famous black taxicabs. Much of the engineering is done by China Euro Vehicle Technology, a Geely subsidiary based in Gothenburg, Sweden.[1]
Geely's involvement in British taxicab production began in 2006 when it partnered with LEVC's predecessor The London Taxi Company, and its parent Manganese Bronze Holdings, in the creation of a China-based taxicab manufacturing joint venture.[2] In 2008, Geely considered the possibility of converting London's black cabs into electric-powered vehicles.[3] In 2009 Geely bought shares in Manganese Bronze Holdings.[4]
In 2012 Manganese Bronze Holdings entered administration due to lack of funding.[5][6] In 2013 Geely rescued part of the business and created its own taxicab production company as The London Taxi Corporation Limited.[7]
From 2014, Geely invested £480m in LEVC to develop a new taxi. In March 2015, LEVC announced a new factory and offices would be built at Ansty Park, northeast of Coventry at a cost of £90m, creating 1,000 jobs.[10][11][12] Geely hoped to manufacture 36,000 vehicles per annum.[13]
In 2017, the company launched the new LEVC TX range-extended electric taxi and announced its intentions to begin production of electric commercial vehicles in addition to taxicabs.[14]
Geely had been in talks over the possibility of converting London's black cabs into electric-powered vehicles. The company said it has held talks with UK government officials about the plan.[15] The TX range extender electric vehicle is built at a new facility near Ansty Park, 5 miles (8 kilometres) northeast of Coventry.
[16][17][18] By April 2022, over 5,000 TX's has been sold in London, around a third of London's taxi fleet.[19]
An electric van was revealed by LEVC on 17 June 2019[20] In March 2020, LEVC confirmed that the new van would be called LEVC VN5.[21] It went on sale in the UK in 2020 and in the rest of Europe the following year.[22]
LEVC revealed the L380 electric people carrier for the Chinese market in December 2023. With a length of 5.3 m (17 ft) and up to 4 rows and 8 seats inside, the name and stylistic cues of the L380 are based on those of the Airbus A380.[23]
