• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, August 13, 2012

Before the Olympics invaded London, Nissan LEAF offered Londoners and tourists alike discounted cab rides in electric taxis.

For one weekend in June, ten Nissan LEAF cars, which are 100% electric, chauffeured people around London at a price that was six times cheaper than a typical gas-fueled car

But there was a catch. For users to qualify for a reduced ride, they first had to tweet their destination, using the hashtag, #6XCHEAPER. Nissan then replied to individual tweets, informing riders of the cost of their trip in an electric car versus a gas car.

“We used Twitter as the means to book a ride, as it's super fast to both send and respond to,” said Duan Evans, Executive Creative Director at AKQA, the agency behind the initiative.

Taxi drivers from Battersea-based Climate Cars picked up chosen riders at Truman Brewery, near London’s Liverpool station, and drove them to places like Covent Garden and Croydon.

To put pricing in perspective, a trip to Oxford, clocking in at 60 miles, would cost a gas-fueled car almost £6, compared to less than £1 in fuel for a Nissan LEAF driver.

Post-ride, Nissan LEAF requested consumer feedback on the car and further educated riders that New York City had selected  Nissan as its exclusive electric yellow cab supplier.

In addition to London, Nissan offered free cab rides for one weekend in Amsterdam.