Tesla taxi hits the road in Vancouver

Shaminder Rattan figures he'll be making local taxi historywhen he silently cruises out of the Yellow Cab lot in East VancouverThursday afternoon to pick up his first customer of the day.

That's because he'llbe driving a new, fully electric Tesla Model 3,which he believesis thefirst Tesla taxi in Vancouver.

"We're really so excited, and I'm excited too," he said."Whoever going to be in the car first, he's going to be a lucky guy, I tell you that."

Rattan,62, has been driving cab for 34 years, 32 of those as an owner.

He used to share his taxi licence and car with another driver, each taking a daily 12 hour shift.But changes in Passenger Transportation Board regulations spurred by the arrival of Uber and Lyftmade it possible for each driver to have their own vehicle.

And having full control of his cabopened the door for Rattan to move to a zero emission electric vehicleand a clearer conscience.

"Everybody so concerned about the environment what's happening onthe globe it's really, really bad. And we, the cab companies, the truck drivers, are making so much pollution," he said.

It made sense to him financially as well.

Crunching the numbers showed that a monthly savings of $500 to $600 in gas, combined with several hundred dollars less per year to maintainan electric versus an internal combustion engine, would easily offset the purchase of a new $52,000(plus tax) Tesla.

"I'm not saving any money,but the same amount I used to pay [for gas]I now pay ... to the bank," he said. "And I'm driving a brand new car with fewer repairs and less downtime."

Tesla taxis aren't new in Canada or in B.C.

Current Taxi operates in Victoria and Kelowna with an exclusively Tesla fleet. And To Taxi used to run some Teslas in its all-electric fleet in Montreal, until it shut down last year. The company has recently announced its intention to relaunch.

With a home chargingstation and abattery range of 400 kilometres,Rattan says he'll have no issues driving for 12 hours at a time.

He also figures the $2,500 spent turning his shiny new carinto a branded Yellow Cab was money well spent.

"That's not paint, it's a wrap," he says of the yellow exterior. "It's so good!Anytime I wantto rip it off I can because there's perfect whitepaint underneath."