L'Automobile - Etioca Miner
Etioca Miner, the taxi of the future.
Edoardo Nastri, 09/30/2022
MILAN - The revolution for more sustainable mobility at the service of people involves all its players, including vehicles dedicated to public service. Etioca, a startup founded in 2015 by the Israeli entrepreneur Mark Ishakov, presented Miner, a prototype of the future and 100% electric taxi that, according to the founder, “will revolutionize the sector profoundly”.
Etioca Miner is not purchased, but the business model provides that the vehicle is given to taxi drivers in use by the company together with a package of services at a cost of around 0.99 euro cents for each kilometer traveled. The rate includes assistance, maintenance, and recharging (Miner also supports changing the battery pack in 3 minutes) plus a series of minor services such as daily car wash.
100 thousand units per year in 2027
The system created by Etioca provides for the registration of taxi drivers through a smartphone app from which you can receive travel orders and monitor the workflow. According to Mark Ishakov, the first Miner specimens will arrive in 2024 while by 2027 the company expects a production of 100,000 units per year. The initial investment of resources amounts to 400 million euros which will reach 1.2 billion within the next 3 years. According to what was declared by Etioca, the pre-orders received for Miner are over 90 thousand distributed between Italy, Israel and Latvia. The first batch of vehicles will be produced in Italy, at the moment it has not been communicated where.
The designers designed Miner trying to break down architectural barriers and taking advantage of every single centimeter of the cabin which has a regular shape given the van proportions (4.95 meters long, 1.95 wide and 2.10 meters high).
Inside we find 7 seats (in addition to the driver) that can be completely modulated according to the needs: in the booking through the app it is possible to communicate, for example, the presence of a disabled passenger and his needs (users with a wheelchair can get on board without be obliged to call for assistance). The driver’s seat is central and isolated from customers, “a feature that always keeps taxi drivers safe at all working hours and in every part of the world,” explains Ishakov.
Two roof panels for advertising
Miner can also easily accommodate those who want to bring sports equipment with them: in the rear there is in fact a retractable platform to load bicycles, surfboards, skis or snowboards up to a weight of 100 kilograms, while the cabin can be transformed in a real office by booking the 3 + 3 seat configuration. Etioca also thought of making Miner a traveling advertising billboard.
In fact, two large LED monitors (50x150) have been installed on the roof on which advertising content can be purchased by users and completely customizable according to the areas of use. The displays are foldable when not in use.
46 years ago Giugiaro’s idea
Miner is the first of a series of vehicles dedicated to mobility services that Etioca will present in the coming years, all based on Anna, a modular platform for electric vehicles developed by the same company. This then announced the collaboration with Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro for the creation of a new research and development center aimed at the style and production of its next proposals.
“Already in 1976 I tackled the issue of a new taxi for the city of New York, which remained a prototype with the name of Alfa Romeo New York Taxi, now kept in the Arese museum”, comments Giorgetto Giugiaro. “I am happy, together with Fabrizio, to contribute today to the development of this integrated concept in a global ecosystem”.
