California Yellow Cab, an Orange County-based Taxi Service, has ordered a number of Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F)’s Transit Connect vehicles powered by compressed natural gas (CNG).
Ford is phasing out its Crown Victoria model, which is targeted at the police cruiser and taxi market, and is now hoping to push its boxy Transit Connect to taxi operators.
California Yellow Cab President Tim Conlon ordered 25 Ford Transit Connects and says that the model has the potential to be the “the iconic taxi of the future.”
Conlon, a strong advocate for CNG vehicles, will now head the first taxi company in Southern California to operate half of its 220-vehicle fleet on natural gas.
“California Yellow Cab started to use natural gas in 2002 before there were many refueling stations,” Conlon said to the press. “Now that the infrastructure has built up, we’ll be able to help protect Orange County’s air quality even more with the Transit Connect.”
