Just a few days ago, BYD launched 40 E6 taxis in the Chinese city of Shenzhen. These vehicles are believed to be the first electric taxis to take to the roads in China. They may just be some lowly taxis, but it's a start towards reducing emissions countrywide. As BYD chief executive officer Wang Chuanfu said, "The E6 cars' ET (environment technology) batteries give off zero emissions and cause no harm to the environment." That's not counting the actual production of the batteries, of course, but we'll give it to him.

The taxis are operated and maintained by Pengcheng Electric Taxi Co., Ltd, which is partially owned by none other than BYD. Each taxi costs around $40,000 (U.S.) and the company hopes to add 60 more to its fleet by the end of June. The E6 is ideal for taxi service with an impressive claim of 300 kilometers (186 miles) per charge. Although a fleet of 100 EVs will have virtually no impact on the air quality of one of the largest and most smog-infested nations, everything has to start somewhere.