Cabbie who owns his own EV London taxi talks honestly about whether it’s worth it
- This London cab driver bought his own black cab
- Not every drive owns the cab he drives
- All in all, he think it’s worth it
Published on Feb 01, 2025 at 6:00 AM (UTC+4)
by Alessandro Renesis
Last updated on Jan 29, 2025 at 3:22 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
This UK taxi driver in London owns his own electric black cab.
Black cabs aren’t cheap, especially the electric black cab, so buying it was a bit of a gamble.
All in all, he doesn’t regret his decision.
But there’s a catch.
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Is owning a black cab a good idea?
Many cab drivers in London do not own their black cab, because they either rent it, or they work for a company and so company owns the cab.
The buy vs lease/rent debate is the sort of eternal question that will never go away, and it applies to a lot of things.
But when it comes to cabs in London, one of the biggest challenges comes from the fact that regulations since 2017 prevent licensing older cabs, which means drivers are now ‘forced’ to buy EVs, which are more expensive.
On top of that, there are extra costs and taxes to bear in mind.
Tom Hutley, the man behind the Tom The Taxi Driver YouTube channel, said it all depends on whether you want to play the long game or not.
He paid £70,000, around $87,000, but he said he’s projecting to earn around £13,000 ($16,000) more per year.
“[By buying my own cab I’ve] effectively given myself a pay rise, for doing the same job,” he said.
The biggest challenge is that these cabs have a relatively brief shelf life, due to regulations.
Ownership vs renting
Across the board, statistics show us that while there are more cars in the world than ever before, that fewer people actually own the vehicle they drive.
Some people would probably say that one of the most prominent reason is the fact cars are now commodities that quickly turn into a liability when they age, and they depreciate faster than before.
Owning cars is also expensive, even more so when it comes to supercars.
This is especially true in countries with high taxes such as the UK.
Even so, ownership is still seen as something to be proud of.
The YouTuber who had to admit he was renting his supercar found out the ‘hard way’.
