海角大神

Tough roads and even tougher traffic makes the city a workout for any聽, but one cabby is enjoying the Nissan Leaf he's driving as part of the city's electric vehicle trials.

In fact, driver Uppkar Singh Thind described himself as "over the moon" to the聽, as one of just six people picked to drive the electric cab聽.

Thind paid only $1 for the car as part of the trial, which will last just one year before the car goes back to Nissan.

Not everyone gets a Nissan Leaf for $1 of course, but Thind is already discovering the聽聽cost benefits--whether charging at home or paying $7 for the 3.5 hours of driving a charge gets him in New York's summer heat.

Overall, Thind says he pays around $11 a day in electricity, around $4 of which is his overnight charge at home. Compare that to his previous gas costs--around $50--and it's easy to see the appeal. It comfortably offsets the $25 a day less he makes having to turn down trips that may be a little long for the car--"you are limited to how far you can go," he told the聽Post--and Thind says he earns higher tips from customers.

The electric taxi trial will help the city "answer important questions about incorporating electric taxis into the fleet,so that we can achieve the goal of a one-third electric taxi fleet by 2020,"聽 NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters in April.

Several DC fast-charge stations have been installed around the city, allowing Leaf taxi drivers to gain an 80 percent charge in around 30 minutes.

The only issue so far is people around聽聽not recognizing the silver and gold color scheme as a taxi, though once he has fares on board, "it starts a conversation".

One other issue Thind hasn't come across is the degradation in range聽, though New York's trial may not be long enough to replicate such results.

In the meantime, the electric cab is going down a storm, and proving a hit for cost-conscious cabbies like Thind. It makes New York's roads just a little less polluted and a little less stressful ...