Revel’s fleet of 50 Tesla Model Y taxis that was shut down by New York’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) last month has been approved.
Revel, a mobility startup better known for its ride-sharing fleets of electric scooters, announced earlier this year that it is launching an effort to bring a fleet of Tesla Model Y taxis to New York.
The effort was particularly intriguing to us because Revel had modified the Model Y to make it a perfect taxi vehicle.
They added a screen in the Model Y’s backseat and also removed the front passenger seat in order to create more legroom. It created a unique zero-emission taxi experience using Tesla vehicles.
However, the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) shut down’s Revel plans last month when they decided to end an exemption of the limit for app-based drive-for-hire licenses for electric vehicles.
The TLC’s cap is to limit the number of for-hire cars on the road, but the city implemented an exemption for electric vehicles in 2018 in order to help the transition to electric transportation.
Despite the attempt to shut down Revel’s plans by removing the exemption right after the company announced the new Tesla fleet, the mobility firm argued that their vehicles were already approved, and they reached an agreement.
Today, they confirmed that 35 of their 50 Model Ys were already inspected and will be allowed to hit the road.
Frank Reig, Revel CEO, believes that they’ll be able to get the 15 other Model Ys approved, too.
He commented on the news:
We want to reconcile their concerns about more cars on the road. There’s a very critical and immediate need to accelerate electric vehicle adoption in this city. It’s not going to happen if we don’t communicate and we don’t work together.
Revel aims to launch its taxi service using its fleet of Tesla Model Y vehicles on August 2. They already have more than 3,000 electric Niu scooters.