SHERBET ELECTRIC TAXIS: Sherbet’s Sustainability Driving Change in London Transport Network

There is a green revolution underway in London as the city’s transport industry braces for disruption and change, with consumers demanding an energy transition and a shift in direction towards clean, zero emissions travel.

Cars, trains, planes, taxis, and motorcycles pollute the air in Europe’s largest city with fossil fuel engines pumping out harmful gases that damage the environment and are proven to harm human health. Way back in 2014, in one of London’s largest residential areas – the Barbican – residents regularly reported black dust on windows and shelves, a by-product of air pollution caused not by power plants, but by a tidal wave of diesel vehicles. Nitrous oxides and fine particulate matter including dust, smoke and soot are proven to be dangerous to health and drive rates of lung disease and other life-threatening conditions.

So, when London’s newest iteration of the clean air zone, or ultra-low-emission zone (ULEZ), was introduced in 2019, and when a plan to expand the area was tabled for 2023, many were delighted. Clean air zones are proven to drive reductions in poisonous air pollution, and many more are planned for Europe in the coming years.

But this is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to a turnkey solution. The transportation industry must change its energy source, quickly, and move away from strategic reliance on fossil fuels. Some have tried, and there have been variable rates of success, but an exciting and innovative business is now leading the way in London.

Tackling the problem for the taxi industry is Asher Moses, Founder and CEO of Sherbet Electric Taxis. A former London taxi driver and ambitious entrepreneur, Moses has built a business that is transforming the taxi industry, reimagining the energy that fuels these symbols of London.

“The London taxi is an icon and it has been battered, but today we are changing everything,” he tells Energy Focus.

A self-proclaimed ‘visionary’, Moses has mapped the future of not only London’s taxi industry but the sector globally. Certain is the move away from diesel to electric, and guaranteed is the introduction of further technology to drive data. In 2016, a major survey of London cab drivers found that the vast majority were in favour of a shift towards greener fleets and most saw the benefits of low-carbon transportation, in line with air health targets

“We want to show separation. Old taxis exist, but Sherbet is future proofing,” Moses adds.  “London taxis are an integral part of the London transport network and are here to stay. We are not following but we are leading the way, globally, in change. We, as an electric taxi industry, have invested £350 million in the last three years. Diesel cab drivers take one drive in electric taxis and they never want to get out – it’s a change in lifestyle. The evolution is happening, the time to go green is now.”

POLE POSITION

Established in 2013, with more than 50 permanent employees and 700 drivers, Sherbet is growing in the new sunrise after the pandemic. People are moving once again in London, but the desire for zero emissions has not dissipated. Moses describes the ascent of the business in comparison to others in the industry.

“We are going green and we are going electric,” he smiles. “Uber entered the market but Halo was the first taxi app used by taxi drivers. Uber introduced technology and discounted the fares. At the same time, Addison Lee was also changing the market before being sold in a multimillion-pound deal. They took the greatness out of London black taxis by adding technology. I started my business and decided to do the same but taking everything they removed and putting it back while adding better, newer technology.”

This was when Moses realised the major potential for an electric power revolution. Instead of feeding a combustion engine with petrol or diesel and churning out CO_2, electric vehicles use batteries to turn motors with no harmful emissions and comparatively cheap charging costs.

“Uber gives out kilotons of carbon emissions compared to what we do. There is an evolution happening and we are future proofing licensed London electric taxi drivers through the use of technology.”

The longing to change habits and embrace the energy transition has turned consumer’s eyes to brands that are transparent in their climate goals. Since inception, Sherbet Electric Taxis has made its model and operations clear and concise, allowing those who share values to change their behaviours.

“A taxi is not a taxi anymore,” states Moses. “People call brands and they only call brands with values. If you want a private taxi that is electric, with a private passenger compartment, with a driver that knows where he is going in the bus lanes in central London, you come to Sherbet.

“We are building a community between Sherbet, suppliers, staff, and customers. We want a brand that cab drivers can be proud of.”

While there are others in the market, Sherbet’s iconic cab design, paired with a three-pronged business model differentiates it from the crowd. Firstly, the company is an electric taxi solutions provider – not a diesel in the fleet. This provides companies with corporate social responsibility agendas with the perfect London transportation partner. Individual riders can also download the app and take advantage of the company’s green credentials.  Secondly, Sherbet is a driver-focussed business, led by a driver with 30 years’ experience and a wish for change. It helps bring the cost of access to electric vehicles down for drivers who would otherwise be excluded from the market based on initial capital investment alone. Lastly, the company brings additional revenue through advertising positioning sold on the cabs, exposing brands with aligned values to the valuable London base of consumers.

But the collection and dissemination of significant data is where Moses sees further opportunities.

“Our business is to move from diesel to data as fast as possible, our taxis are connected,” he says. “We have camera vision – front and back. Soon, our fleet will collect pollution data in London and we have one taxi already doing this. Taxis penetrate the city of London more than any other vehicle, thereby we collect the most amount of data possible, if we connect our vehicles properly.”

Benefits here are clear and talk to the third pillar in the Sherbet business strategy. The company can use the data it collects around passenger movements to power deeper and more meaningful campaigns and journeys for riders. For example, if a client is regularly picked up and dropped off at a specific location, travelling along an identical route each time, Sherbet can display advertising for brands along the route, encouraging stops at outlets should a passenger show interest.

This kind of interaction and expansion is one of the biggest shifts in the industry witnessed by veteran Moses, who has seen much upheaval through his time in the driving seat. “The speed of technology and the importance of data – and understanding how to use technology and data to optimise your business has been unbelievable,” he says. “Whether that is internal business intelligence or using data for AI and machine learning – we have adopted and accepted that the speed of technology is always advancing. I started the company with just technology and going green on the mind. I didn’t want to rent cabs or sell advertising. My objective was to build a unicorn company, utilising all assets of a London taxi that can be replicated globally. You can use our tech to buy 100 taxis, put them in Azerbaijan, and replicate the model easily. We have a payment system, a booking app – we know where our customers go.”

AGGRESSIVE SCALING

Next on the agenda for Sherbet is growth through scaling and in its sector, there is major opportunity. According to Moses, there were 23,000 licensed taxis in London with 22,000 licensed drivers before the onset of the pandemic. Post-Covid, that number dropped to 19,000 drivers with 14,000 cars. “So, we decommissioned as part of the mayoral strategy and now there is a shortage of taxis. We’ve got 5000 drivers waiting to get into electric,” he says of the gap in the London market, where some 300,000 journeys are made every single say in taxis or private hire cars.

Away from the English capital, Sherbet has signed its first major expansion agreement which will see it act as the electric taxi provider for the city of Sheffield, helping to remove emissions from the air in a region once dominated by major industrial steelworks.

“Because we use technology to drive our business, we won the tender with Sheffield council to provide electric taxi services against a number of competitors. We won because, simply, we deliver transparency for the council – regulators can regulate and operators can operate,” details Moses.

“In Sheffield, we have an app that any electric taxi driver throughout the country can download. It is an electric taxi service that connects drivers to companies with corporate social responsibility.”

Taxi drivers in Sheffield can join Sherbet and enjoy the LEVC TXE – the most modern and efficient black cab in the market – or the Nissan Dynamo, both fully electric with zero emissions. Sheffield is next, but the rest of the country will follow as Moses aims for eventual global domination in the electric taxis market.

“Currently, there are 7000 electric taxis globally and as soon as Sherbet is ready to scale, any of them will be able to connect to our platform and connect with passengers,” he says.

NOT A TO B DRIVERS

The medium-term goal for the company is to further invest, bringing 2000 electric taxis under ownership. Longer-term, Sherbet wants to be in touch with every electric taxi, assisting in the modernisation of the industry alongside young drivers.

“New drivers are not A to B drivers. They are millennials, they are embracing a different way of driving, utilising apps, and utilising tech for day-to-day business – they accept they are a small business and not a cab driver,” says Moses, adding that he is desperate to share all of the taxi wisdom in his mind with the next generation of industry leaders to help them future proof their businesses.

“Taxis have evolved completely,” he states. “I was a licensed cab driver and I grew the largest taxi fleet in London. I introduced credit card payments and advertising, and have seen an evolution.”

As the market grows, Sherbet will continue to work alongside the partners that have delivered so much in a relatively short period of time, helping to change London’s transport network for the better, and all the time delivering service excellence.

“LEVC has done an exceptional job in ensuring that London is evolving to become a clean, green city in line with the Mayoral strategy,” he says, highlighting the company as a provider of reliability, loyalty, flexibility, peace of mind delivery.

“I built my business with suppliers I trust and they keep the flow of parts moving to keep the taxis driving. I have been working with the same people for many years and I am not prepared to break those relationships with delivery of excellence being paramount.”

The brand, that has been carefully crafted over the past decade, has a first mover advantage and is pushing hard for market share as more realise the energy transition is not a phase. for Sherbet Electric Taxis, zero emissions is part of the company’s excellence ethos, and a reputation has been built around it.

“We work with high-net-worth-individuals, the c-suite, MPs, celebrities – you can’t work with a supplier who will maybe deliver; you must deliver and you must have a back up system. Clientele want delivery – your word is your bond,” says Moses. “You can never let a client down – I had a client call me in the middle of the night recently and ask for a helicopter to be fully branded and to land on a famous landmark – it was totally unreasonable, but we did it. That is our reputation.”

To meet climate targets, the transport and travel industry as a whole must change and a transition to electric vehicles is one of the first steps. The benefits are clear – from cleaner air, cost savings, reduced maintenance, but all working on existing infrastructure. For taxis alone, which contribute around £1.4 billion to the London economy, Sherbet is demonstrating the obvious choice for reimagining this vital transportation organ.

Sherbet’s vision is ‘to offer the most future proofed version of the world famous London Black Taxi and make it relevant for the modern city and passenger’. To date, this vision is being achieved.