Zhongshan's first batch of 8 electric taxis were put into trial operation on August 27. Another 60 will be launched in the next phase, and a total of 300 taxis of this kind will be put into use in two years.

The body of the "deluxe" taxi has a metallic color, dotted with green and blue blocks. The seats are higher than those of an ordinary texi. It feels comfortable to sit in and has a wide field of view. The roof has a large transparent skylight, and passengers can enjoy the outside view through the glass.

The new model is also equipped with an intelligent GPS and face recognition system, an audio and video monitoring system, an automobile data recorder, and an intelligent safe driving system.

"The intelligent safe driving system is mainly used to monitor whether there is any illegal driving behavior for the driver, such as smoking, making phone calls, dozing off, etc. It can even identify whether the driver wears a mask during driving," said Qiu Wenbo, general manager of Zhongshan Port Motor Transportation Co Ltd, adding that the company has allocated 16 drivers for the 8 new vehicles, 3 of whom are female.