A Ride Around Manhattan in the Taxi of Tomorrow Assuming its legal holdups are resolved, the Nissan NV200 that was shown in front of the Hilton New York Fashion District hotel in Manhattan on Tuesday will become the city's "Taxi of Tomorrow." Mike Hobson, director of the Nissan commercial vehicle division in the United States, points out that tomorrow is coming soon. "We're fairly confident that everything will get sorted out," he said. We have to keep going full throttle to meet our development timeline with the Taxi and Limousine Commission and get the first vehicles on the road in October. Last month, a New York State Supreme Court judge blocked the Bloomberg administration's plan for a nearly uniform fleet of NV200 taxis because New York law requires a hybrid option. It was just the latest roadblock for the taxis, which were specially designed for the city. Nissan won a hard-fought competition for the city's taxi business in 2011. In an e-mailed statement, David Yassky, the Taxi and Limousine Commission's chairman, said: "The T.L.C. is acting on June 20 to ensure that taxi owners will continue to have the option to purchase a hybrid vehicle, even once the Taxi of Tomorrow hits the road in October. The ruling will not delay the Taxi of Tomorrow's implementation. Mr. Hobson said there definitely would be a hybrid NV200. "Development work is under way in Japan, and the hybrid should be available in one to two years," he said. No useful details are available on the hybrid, but the gasoline version has a 131-horsepower 2-liter 4-cylinder engine, similar to the powerplant in the Nissan Sentra. Peter Bedrosian, a Nissan product manager, said the taxi should achieve about 24 miles per gallon under city driving conditions. Also under study is a battery-electric NV200, a version of which was shown at the Detroit auto show last year. Travis Parman, a Nissan spokesman, said in a telephone interview that the company would be evaluating the performance of six Nissan Leaf taxis in a New York City pilot program, which would shape any future plug-in NV200 models. Mr. Hobson said the first three Leaf taxis will go into service this week. Nissan was offering rides, not drives, in its NV200 taxi, which still showed a few signs of being a work in progress. Only one of the rear passenger doors had a sliding window (which rattled when open), and some finishing touches had not yet been completed In a 15-minute ride in the van, some of the taxi's advantages were apparent. It had limousine-grade legroom, a big roof window to help passengers see the city and separate climate controls for passengers. A handy step emerged when either sliding door was opened. The cabin featured a full-length divider window incorporating a pass-through for payments, as well as a natural-sounding intercom system similar to those in London cabs. The passenger compartment had cup holders, as well as USB ports for recharging cellphones and other devices. With the sliding side window closed, the NV200"s interior was extremely quiet, giving it a limousine feel. The ride was more unsettled than a limo's, though - passengers will not miss the authentic experience of New York's potholes and relief-map road surfaces. Mr. Bedrosian said a fairly rough route around Lower Manhattan was chosen to demonstrate to the Taxi and Limousine Commission that the NV200 was tough enough to handle the Big Apple's rumpled roads. And if it can make it here. ... Mr. Hobson said this NV200 was unique to New York, but it was possible that what he described as a "de-contented" version could be marketed elsewhere. "Maybe in Wisconsin they wouldn't need the panoramic roof," he said.