Rides will be offered between 10am and 6pm both days to those who put a message on social network Twitter containing the hashtag “#6XCHEAPER” and each journey will be logged to show passengers what they could save by switching to an electric vehicle.

The taxis are being provided as part of Nissan’s marketing campaign, The Big Turn On, which is aimed at boosting awareness of electric vehicles using social media. Nissan had targeted one million new online fans for the technology over the 100-day campaign, but hit its target after 82 days.

Jim Wright, Managing Director of Nissan GB, said: ‘By offering free taxi rides, we aim to show hundreds of people just how practical and affordable the Nissan LEAF is to run. As each journey costs us so little, we’re not charging passengers – there’s no point quibbling over a few pence.’

The fleet is based out of a taxi rank at the Truman Brewery near Liverpool Street Station, and offers free travel across central London covering an area spanning from Clapham in the south to Hampstead in the north, and Turnham Green in the west to the O2 Arena in the east. Drivers are being provided by environmentally friendly private hire company Climate Cars.

Nissan has already shown an interest in establishing the LEAF as an electric taxi. The carmaker has had a fleet of test vehicles in New York, following the NV200 van being named as the city’s Taxi of Tomorrow. An electric NV200 taxi is being considered as an ongoing development.