Bradford grant to support electric taxis

A new grant under Bradford’s Clean Air Zone has been launched to support local taxi firms with the use of electric taxis. 

The grant of up to £10,000 for Bradford licensed trade firms is supported by £4m of funding from Bradford Council and is the highest grant of its type in the UK, it can go towards to purchase, leasing or upkeep of a fully electric vehicle.

Cllr Sarah Ferriby, the Executive Member for Healthy People and Places, said: ‘The taxi trade in Bradford is booming with applications to become a driver at an all-time high. 

‘We are pleased to further extend our support to the Bradford taxi trade for the upgrade of their vehicles to fully electric by offering up to £10,000 per vehicle in grant funding to assist proprietors with the running costs of a fully electric Hackney Carriage or Private Hire Vehicle. The funding will be allocated on a first come first served basis.’ 

Applications will be open from May with most grants consisting of £6,000 over two years and support for non-Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles rising to £10,000 over two years. 

This brings the overall funding in line with existing support through the Hackney Carriage and Wheelchair Accessible Private Hire Vehicle EV grants. 

The Clean Air Zone has been active since September last year and aims to reduce emissions in the city, 98% of the area’s taxis and private hire vehicles already meet the CAZ standard. 

Support for the switch to EVs is supported by the council as not just supporting the environment but also providing ‘driver health benefits of in-vehicle pollution reduction, respiratory health improvements and also a reduction in noise.’ 

Development of electric taxi tech has been making steps forward in recent years as councils and organisations look to support the transition as part of efforts to achieve net zero. One development includes the UK’s first wireless charging taxi rank trial in Nottingham which was completed last month.

Photo by JJ Ying