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From the beginning of 2018, all new London taxis sold have to be able to run with zero emissions. To meet that requirement, the London Electric Vehicle Company has built this new TX black cab – and it’s quite something, as our (free) ride around north London proved.

Designing a brand new and useable London taxi isn’t just about coming up with a new body and powertrain. We’ll get into that in a minute. It’s also about the detail. In this new TX, the intercom microphones are in the window pillars in front of the rear seats rather than in the usual position in the roof. Why? Think about it. When you’re talking to the driver of a black cab, what do you do? That’s right: you lean forward to a point level with the pillar. Then there are the four USB ports. The 230V power point. And the on-board Wi-Fi.

The big stuff in the new TX taxi includes a lightweight bonded-aluminium architecture meeting Transport for London rules – and cabbies’ own preferences –­ on taxi size.

Power comes from a 145bhp electric motor, plus a range-extending 1.3-litre petrol engine that doesn’t recharge the battery but activates when the 70 miles’ worth of battery is finished. Cabbies living outside central London can switch the petrol engine on for the drive into work and then switch to electric for the zero-emissions zones. The total range is about 400 miles, 80 more than the current diesel TX4.

We’re nipping through a rabbit warren of Highgate streets in the back of the prototype TX cab with LEVC tech boss Ian Collins. There’s loads of room back here, with seats for six – the current TX4 has five – and enough legroom to avoid any knee-rubbing between those in the rear-facing fold-down seats (staggered to stop shoulder-rubbing) and those sitting in the back facing forward. Wheelchair passengers can get in (and face forward for the first time) using a ramp that quickly deploys from the door sill. The old TX4’s ramp had to be built up from parts stored in the boot.

The difference in ambience between this and the old TX4 diesel is like night and day, especially with a big glass roof over your head. It’s not a flashy cabin – a taxi is built to take plenty of abuse over its life, not to impress buyers – but it is super-quiet, as you’d expect from an electric vehicle, with passenger area acoustics refined for ‘intelligibility’ so you’ll be able to hear not only what your fellow passenger is saying but also those classic cabbie jokes in the finest detail.

They’ll be in a jovial mood, hopefully, because they’re well looked after up front with USB ports, dual-zone climate control and lockable under-seat storage, not to mention stuff like autonomous emergency braking, a digital instrument display and a touchscreen, much of it coming from LEVC’s partners Volvo.

The presence of sat-nav might come as a surprise, given that London taxi drivers have their own in-built knowledge of London's streets, but they do use sat-nav to check traffic conditions – and LEVC is looking to sell the TX worldwide. The city of Rotterdam has already bought 225 TXs, and variants will be built in China.

If you like the sound of becoming a cabbie in one of these TXs, be aware that they’re not cheap. Prices start from £55,599, but most are run on £177 a week finance deals. They will last you, though. The expected lifecycle is 15-20 years. Plenty of time to perfect your standup routine.