Nissan, the 4th most innovative company worldwide according to “Fast Company”, has been awarded a 1 billion dollar contract to supply the cab fleet of NYC.

After deliberation in NYC’s “Taxi of Tomorrow” competition, Nissan took the cake with their next-generation, high-fuel efficient NV-200. With the old Ford Crown Victoria fleet retiring this represents a change of the guard, and comes as a great achievement for Nissan. The new Nissan fleet of cabs will be a welcome relief for the emmissions Coming out of NYC. Part of the winning idea is Nissan’s potential to convert the NV 200 to run only on electric by 2017.

Nissan is also running a pilot program in 2012 exploring the possibility of converting to all electric cabs. This pilot consists of providing 6 of their all-electric LEAF’s to taxi owners and charging stations in NYC for testing. The ideal would be to have a Nissan LEAF and Nissan NV-200 that run completely on electric, for 200 miles or more of range. Giving the cab drivers an ability to drive for much extended periods,while keeping the air clean.

NYC has stated that their goal is “To achieve cleanest air of any large city in America”. That is quite a lofty goal given the fact that they are the largest city in our country, with the highest P.M and ozone emmissions. Most of their emmissions come from fuel combustion, heating oil and electric power generators. To have more sustainable, lower emission cabs on their urban roads will decrease these numbers by significant amounts.

Nissan will be manufacturing the NV 2oo as of 2013. Specifically created for the Big Apple, it will replace the 13,000 various makes and models of the current cab fleets, mostly comprised of Crown Victorias. The NV 200 is a modified version of the minivan already available in the global market. ”The NV200 taxi will give Nissan the opportunity to showcase our dedication to vehicle quality and urban mobility to more than 600,000 passengers a day,” Carlos Tavares, chairman of Nissan Americas.

In collaboration with Nissan, NYC is setting an example of intelligent, low-emission practices for cities and cab companies worldwide.