GrabCab to Launch in July With 40 Toyota Prius Taxis for a Start

It will add more models to fleet, including fully electric vehicle some time in 2025

- Esther Loi

GrabCab vehicles will hit the roads from July as Singapore's sixth and newest taxi operator launches its services, with 40 cabs in its fleet for a start.

Announcing this in a media briefing on June 4, GrabCab, a subsidiary of Grab's rental arm GrabRentals, said it will be launching its taxi services with 40 new fifth-generation electric hybrid Toyota Prius cars.

The company also said it will be adding more models to its fleet, including the electric hybrid Hyundai Kona from August and a fully electric vehicle "some time" in 2025.

GrabCab noted that it would like to meet the minimum fleet size requirement of 800 taxis for the street-hail operator licence before the third year of operations.

Under the licence, GrabCab will have a grace period of three years to progressively expand its fleet to meet the minimum fleet size requirement of 800 cabs.

Mr Victor Sim, director of GrabRentals, said that, as at June 4, the operator has received 700 to 800 registration applications from prospective drivers who expressed interest in renting a GrabCab vehicle.

Of these, about 400 to 500 eligible applicants have been selected as part of the first pool of drivers.