A Mexican automaker owned in part by billionaire Carlos Slim is developing an electric taxi, which it hopes could ultimately spawn a fleet of vehicles to replace Mexico City’s petrol-powered cabs.

Reuters reports that Giant Motors recently partnered with electric vehicle maker Moldex as well as four large Mexican universities to produce a prototype of the environmentally-friendly car.

In an interview, chief executive of Giant Motors Latinoamerica, Elias Massri, said: “We’re developing the prototypes and hope to finish them this year to find a viable solution, an electric vehicle, that genuinely replaces gasoline-using cars.”

Mexico City has some of the highest pollution levels in the world and has incredibly high levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide.

In December 2016, the mayor of Mexico City joined those of Paris, Madrid and Athens to ban diesel-powered vehicles by 2025.

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