Green Tomato Cars
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| File:Green Tomato Cars Logo.png | |
| Industry | transportation / taxi service |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2006 |
| Founders | Jonny Goldstone and Tom Pakenham |
| Headquarters | London , United Kingdom |
| Products | Mobile App |
| Website | https:www.greentomatocars.com |
Green Tomato Cars is a London-based taxi service who focus on being environmentally friendly and ethical. Customers can order a taxi by phone, through the company’s website, or by using a smartphone app.[1][2] They are the first car service in London to operate the Toyota Prius as their flagship car, and the first to use the Toyota Mirai – a zero emissions vehicle.[3] As of 2016, Green Tomato Cars now runs a fleet of more than 700 Priuses [4]
History and Growth
Green Tomato Cars was founded by two Cambridge University lawyers – Jonny Goldstone and Tom Pakenham in 2006. They started the business in West London with four cars.[5][6] On opening, it was the first environmentally friendly private hire company in London. Performance director Sean Sauter said that "people thought green products were quite expensive, they were politically very charged, and typically thought to be of a lesser quality. They [the founders] were keen to show that this was not the case."[4] The company grew after SKY became a corporate client and assisted with finance, allowing an additional ten cars.[7] It was purchased by Transdev in 2010.[4]
In 2012, Green Tomato were asked by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to supplement the remaining empty spaces they had in their transportation sector.[8] In May 2014, the company expanded overseas to Washington D.C.[9] and launched in Paris [10]. They currently have the largest hybrid – and (proportionately) lowest emissions – car service in London.[11]
Goldstone returned to the business as Managing Director in 2017 following the departure of Julia Thomas after an internal reorganisation within Transdev.[6][12] In 2018, GTC planned to upgrade their taxi fleet to exclusively zero emissions and hybrid vehicles.[12]
Services & Vehicles
A customer can book a Green Tomato Cars car on the web, over the phone, or via a smartphone app.[1] [2] The company also provides a call centre for cash and account clients.[13]
Green Tomato Cars' cars are equipped with telematics which measure how a car is driven. This makes it possible review and isolate speeding and other driving issues. The company use these statistics to track driver performance and safety; overall standards have improved by 33% since its introduction.[14]
Controversies
In 2009, Toyota globally recalled the Prius over concerns with the braking system, which caused financial problems from Green Tomato Cars. The issue surrounded an accelerator pedal problem affecting seven Prius models. Toyota recalled over 180,000 Priuses out of 8 million worldwide to update the braking system software.[15]
In 2012, Green Tomato Cars agreed a deal with a Chinese electric car manufacturer to deploy a fleet of 50 BYD E6 pure electric vehicles. However, 2 years later, Green Tomato Cars pulled out of the deal, saying that the two companies "mutually decided that we will not pursue this venture further". It was speculated this was because of a lack of compatible charging stations in London.[16][17]
Charity Affiliation
Polar Bear Initiative – Green Tomato Cars takes part in WWF’s ‘Adopt a Polar Bear’, by adopting a polar bear for every 5000 app bookings [18] Trees For Cities – Green Tomato Cars has been working with this international charity to plant almost 200 trees a year in London’s parks. They also claim that in the event of transporting a woman in labour to the hospital, they will plant and name a tree after the baby.[5]
Awards & Accreditations/Milestones
Green Tomato Cars were the first operator to be ISO 14001 certified.[9] Furthermore, they were also the first company to add electric vehicles to their fleet [19], and the first to operate the Toyota Mirai Hydrogen fuel cell powered vehicle [20] In 2007, Green Tomato Cars was awarded the Fleet of the Year Award, and in 2014, they received two 3rd place awards at the QSI Industry Awards 2014 [21] - Private Hire Company of the Year [22], and Environmental Company of the Year[22] . At the same awards event, Green Tomato Cars’ longest-serving driver, Eric Bonful was awarded Professional Driver of the Year Award for his high standard of service and for how he uses his earnings to fund a community school in his home country, Ghana.[23]Green Tomato Cars also won a Silver Environmental Award at the Professional Driver QSi Awards 2017, as a result of its innovative use of telematics and commitment to a new fleet of hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirais [24].
References
- ^ a b "Green Tomato Cars on the App Store". App Store.
{{cite web}}: no-break space character in|title=at position 29 (help) - ^ a b "Green Tomato Cars – Apps on Google Play". play.google.com.
- ^ "London's First Hydrogen-fuelled Minicabs Take To The Streets - Hydrogen London". www.hydrogenlondon.org.
- ^ a b c https://www.businessgreen.com/bg/feature/2468227/green-tomato-cars-racing-to-stay-ahead-in-a-low-emission-world
- ^ a b "Interview with Jonny Goldstone MD & Co-Founder of Green Tomato Cars". 15 January 2018.
- ^ a b "Green Tomato Cars' fleet to be 'exclusively zero emission or hybrid' by end of 2018". www.fleetnews.co.uk.
- ^ "How to crack the taxi trade? Go green - Features - LondonlovesBusiness.com". www.londonlovesbusiness.com.
- ^ "How to crack the taxi trade? Go green - Features - LondonlovesBusiness.com". www.londonlovesbusiness.com.
- ^ a b "What is ISO 14001:2015? - Environmental Management Certification - ASQ". asq.org.
- ^ "greentomatocars, VTC green à Paris, installe ses ruches solidaires ! - Transdev".
- ^ "Uber sees rivals swoop to pick the bones of its London business". londonbulletin.co.uk.
- ^ a b "Green Tomato Cars founder returns to London". 5 December 2017.
- ^ "Cordic and greentomatocars collaboration bears fruit with Apple". Cambridge Network.
- ^ "Safety: Three ways telematics can improve safety". www.fleetnews.co.uk.
- ^ "Toyota in global recall of Prius". 9 February 2010 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
- ^ Bursa, Mark. "Green Tomato Cars pulls the plug on Chinese electric taxi deal". www.prodrivermags.com.
- ^ Gibbs, Nick (17 February 2014). "Britain's largest electric taxi deal collapses" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ "Lola in polar campaign for green taxis - Fieldmarketing".
- ^ Wallace, Tim (11 February 2014). "First fleet of electric minicabs starts work on London's streets".
- ^ "Taxi firm creates cab that only emits water and no harmful fumes".
- ^ "Home". www.prodrivermags.com.
- ^ a b Bursa, Mark. "This Years QSI Award Winners (2014)". www.prodrivermags.com.
- ^ Bursa, Mark. "Eric Bonful of Greentomato Cars is Professional Driver of the Year 2014". www.prodrivermags.com.
- ^ "QSI Awards". www.prodrivermags.com.