Transport consumes almost 50% of oil production worldwide and is responsible for a large proportion of pollution emissions. In urban areas, noise generated by transport is the most common nuisance cited by citizens. The concentration of nearly 80% of the population in urban areas makes research into clean transport modes essential.

Since several years, major research efforts have been directed at developing electric-powered transport for short urban trips, and France is a leader in this domain with a range of electric vehicles adapted for urban passenger and goods transport. The context of the TAXEL project is therefore to extend the concept of electric traction in towns beyond passenger cars, delivery vehicles, buses, trams, etc, and develop an electric taxi.

TAXEL constitutes a research theme on an electric taxi for the final dissertation projects of students of five French engineering schools: ESTACA, Strate Collège, ESIEE, EIGSI and EIVL, from 1998 to 2000. At the initiative of ESTACA (Ecole Supérieure des Techniques Aéronautiques et de Construction Automobile), following the TAXIA project (innovative LPG-powered taxi), it has been supported by EDF (Electricité de France) and Taxis G7 (a major taxi operator in Paris).

This project was a 'desk study' in co-operation with 5 engineering schools and with sources from the industrial sector. In order to avoid the results of TAXIA disappearing as those responsible graduate from the school, the DRAST (research and scientific affairs directorate of the French Ministry of Transport) requested those responsible to create a synthesis, bringing together existing documentation and filtering the principal results, highlighting the most promising avenues of development and also manifest impossibilities.