From Producing Electric Black Taxis to Developing an EV Platform - LEVC's Managing Director, Chris Allen

The UK's LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company) is rightfully famous for its electric black taxis. Since 2018, it has produced more than 10,000 vehicles, with the iconic cab now exported across the EU, Middle East and Asia Pacific regions. However, the Geely-owned company has also announced plans to develop and offer a new EV platform, called Space Oriented Architecture (SOA).

"For more than 115 years, LEVC has continued to innovate and deliver vehicles that meet the changing needs of society, with one core principle in mind: safe and accessible mobility for all," Chris Allen, Managing Director, LEVC, tells Auto Futures.

"As the automotive world transitions to fully electric technology, there is rapid demand across multiple sectors for new, zero emission vehicles that are at home both in and outside of the city. LEVC has a vast heritage in purpose-built solutions, a long legacy in designing, engineering and manufacturing the vehicles to meet that need for accessible mobility with uncompromised space," says Allen. 

Developed over the past two and a half years at R&D centres in China, Sweden, the UK and Germany, SOA is designed to offer multiple seating and load-carrying configurations. It is equipped with a choice of centrally-located EV batteries from 100kwh to 140kwh. It offers multiple seating and load-carrying configurations, for everything from passenger-carrying models, to cargo-optimised commercial vehicles.

"By centrally locating the battery, the platform achieves a fully flat floor and furthermore, the packaging of electric powertrain components at the front of the vehicle frees up additional space for the driver and passenger. The innovative rear suspension design incorporates extra carrying capacity underneath the main luggage area, ensuring every inch of space is utilised."

"The advantages of SOA extend beyond the interior, delivering improvements in range, efficiency, safety, charging time, durability, and connectivity. Equipped with a wide selection of state-of-the-art batteries ranging from 100 to 140kWh, SOA offers long ranges of up to 695 kilometres and features an 800V architecture to support ultra-fast charging. This combination of ample power and quick charging capabilities maximises convenience and minimises downtime," he adds.

As well as its electric taxi, the TX, LEVC intends to build a range of new electric models based on SOA.

"LEVC is committed to a long-term future of taxi models and the industry. SOA enables us to achieve our mission, to become a zero-carbon mobility technology company by offering an expanded range, with new vehicles that will allow LEVC enter entirely new sectors in new markets."

Bringing Autonomy to The Market

As well as featuring a whole new physical architecture, SOA also incorporates L-OS, a new chip to cloud solution.

"L-OS has been exclusively built for the future mobility space. With huge computing power, L-OS provides users with the ultimate experience, from autonomous capability to intelligent cockpits, forming a complete digital operating system," explains Allen.

"L-OS technology means SOA-based vehicles are autonomous-capable, from Level 2 up to Level 4, bringing new levels of driver assistance to the market. L-OS also incorporates the latest in enhanced occupant experience through experts ECARX, using its advanced Antora intelligent computing platform to deliver the ultimate in intelligent, digital cockpits with high feature content and functionality."

Over-the-air (OTA) software updates allow SOA-based vehicles to always stay up to date.

L-OS technology also enables SOA-based vehicles to be autonomous-capable, ranging from Level 2 up to Level 4 autonomy.

"LEVC recognises the potential and future demand for autonomous capability in the mobility sector and we are developing and refining our technology to bring new levels of driver assistance and autonomy to the market. However, we are unable to reveal at this moment any specific details," he says.

Reducing Air Pollution

LEVC recently celebrated its 10,000th vehicles coming off the line at its UK headquarters. The TX remains at the core of the company's business.

"TX has also now officially overtaken the number of diesel taxis in London, so demand continues to grow for our purpose-built TX electric taxi. With the desire for taxi drivers to reduce running costs, reduce emissions and travel in a quieter and more comfortable vehicle, we expect TX numbers to continue to rise," he says.

Finally, we asked Allen what urban mobility look like by 2030.

"Zero-emission mobility is the goal across all environments but it’s particularly important in urban settings due to the concentration of people and vehicles in a relatively small area. Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats we face, and the challenge is on to decarbonise transportation. Since launch, the TX has prevented more than 173,000 tonnes of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere – an achievement that we’re tremendously proud of." 

"Reducing air pollution on a large-scale will require continued push and investment across global industry and government, to deliver a holistic zero-emission mobility ecosystem in urban environments. We are already seeing the positive results of low emission zones, which are forcing fleet operators to rapidly transition to zero-emission vehicles, whether that’s taxi, bus, or commercial vehicles," concludes Allen.