"I can't afford to retire."
Many London taxi drivers are working an extra two hours a day because of "astronomical" petrol prices and fear that more time spent behind the wheel could lead to accidents. Taxi drivers at a taxi rank in London Bridge were also angry at petrol stations failing to pass on the 5p fuel tax cut that Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in his spring budget last week.
The worst affected are the drivers with a TX4 diesel and driving around with a fuel tank of 50 liters. They now pay nearly £90 for a fill-up when it was around £65 last year. Even taxi drivers with a newer hybrid LEVC TX have reported a £10 spike in their weekly fill up, while energy prices mean the cost of a full fill up has doubled. As energy bills rise, the problem only seems to get worse.
"It costs me something, so I take the blow and work a few more hours every day. I'm lucky to have a job where I can work a few more hours. If you have a job where you can't work overtime then have you been seen."
The use of an electric taxi saves a lot of money to some taxi drivers compared to colleagues. †I would definitely recommend everyone to move away from fossil fuel vehicles.“The biggest problem they have is the battery capacity. It's not easy to find a fast charger, there just aren't any. The funding from TfL or the government is not there to place it. Paul Derry, 64, from Essex, said:It is what it is, you have to have it. I will never retire, I can't afford to retire. "
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