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344 Chevrolet Malibus held TLC licenses on October 12, 2026. All of them are for-hire vehicles (FHVs), not yellow taxis, and together they are 0.3% of the TLC fleet. That makes the Malibu the 41st most common TLC model.
Two things stand out. The Malibu is almost entirely a gas car on TLC plates (343 of 344), and a single model year, 2022, makes up 42% of them.
Where these numbers come from
TLC publishes daily lists of active FHVs and authorized medallion taxis, but neither list has a make or model column. TLC Help decoded every VIN with NHTSA's vPIC decoder and counted the results. vPIC reports the model family ("Malibu"), not the trim, and its fuel fields can misclassify a few cars. The lists change every day.
One model year dominates
The 2022 bar is the story: 144 cars, far more than any other year. Model years 2022 to 2024 together account for 281 Malibus, or 81.7%. Before 2022, no year has more than 18.
At the young end, only 2 Malibus are model year 2025, and fueleconomy.gov lists no 2026 Malibu at all. So unlike most models on this site, you should not expect new Malibus to keep joining the fleet.
Only 4.1% of licensed Malibus are model year 2016 or older. For all FHVs, TLC's model-year data adds up to about 10%. TLC's current FHV rules set no fixed retirement age; see TLC vehicle retirement age for what does limit an old car.
Gas, with two engine choices
Among the sedans in this part of the fleet, the Malibu is the least electrified. The Hyundai Sonata is 23.4% hybrid by VIN decode, the Lexus ES 43.2%, and the Ford Fusion more than half hybrid or plug-in.
EPA ratings for the most common year, 2022, depend on the engine. The 1.5-liter turbo is rated 32 mpg combined on regular gas (EPA label). The 2.0-liter turbo is rated 26 mpg combined and the EPA lists premium fuel for it (EPA label). If you are looking at a used Malibu, check which engine it has. EPA numbers come from standard tests, so stop-and-go city driving can give different results. Put your own fuel cost into the lease-vs-buy tool.
Base types
337 Malibus (98.0%) are affiliated with black car bases, the base type app trips run through, and 7 with livery bases. None are at luxury limousine bases and none are marked wheelchair accessible. That is close to the FHV fleet as a whole, where 96.7% of vehicles are at black car bases.
Plates, transfers and inspection
You cannot start a brand-new FHV license with a Malibu. TLC's Get a For-Hire Vehicle License page says only owners of wheelchair accessible vehicles may apply, and licenses issued that way stay restricted to accessible vehicles.
If you hold a regular FHV license and want to replace your car with a Malibu, rule 59A-09(a) in chapter 59 says you must file the transfer within 15 days after registering the new car with the DMV, and TLC will not approve it until the car passes inspection. Steps and fees: TLC plates for FHVs, TLC vehicle inspection, and FHV insurance requirements.
The Malibu is younger than the Sonata, Fusion and Altima (median 2022 vs 2018–2019), but it is the most gas-heavy of the group apart from the Altima. See also the Honda Civic, the Cadillac XTS, and the full ranking in TLC fleet by make and model.
More on cars and plates in the vehicles topic.
Data on this page
Aggregates of public data. They describe trips and vehicles, never individual people.
TLC's vehicle lists have no make/model column, so TLC Help decoded the VIN of every licensed vehicle with NHTSA's vPIC decoder (one representative VIN per manufacturer + model-descriptor + model-year pattern) and published only counts. 5 of 115,081 vehicles (0%) could not be decoded to a model and are left out. vPIC sometimes reports trim-family names (e.g. 'RX' not 'RX 350h'); powertrain comes from vPIC's electrification/fuel fields and may misclassify a few model years. Snapshot lists change daily.
- Chevrolet Malibu: licensed TLC vehicles by model year — Active FHVs and authorized medallion taxis that are a Chevrolet Malibu, by model year.NYC Open Data: FHV - Active (8wbx-tsch) and Medallion Vehicles - Authorized (rhe8-mgbb), VINs decoded with NHTSA vPIC · pulled Oct 12, 2026Model year from TLC's vehicle_year / model_year columns. Age limits for TLC vehicles come from TLC rules, not this chart.
- Chevrolet Malibu in the TLC fleet: hybrid, electric or gas — Licensed Chevrolet Malibu vehicles by powertrain (from decoded VINs).NYC Open Data: FHV - Active (8wbx-tsch) and Medallion Vehicles - Authorized (rhe8-mgbb), VINs decoded with NHTSA vPIC · pulled Oct 12, 2026
- Chevrolet Malibu: where it is licensed (FHV base type vs medallion taxi) — Licensed Chevrolet Malibu vehicles by fleet: FHVs by the type of base they are affiliated with, and medallion taxis.NYC Open Data: FHV - Active (8wbx-tsch) and Medallion Vehicles - Authorized (rhe8-mgbb), VINs decoded with NHTSA vPIC · pulled Oct 12, 2026Wheelchair-accessible (FHV list): 0 WAV, 0 PILOT. App-based (high-volume) work generally runs through black car bases.
Frequently asked questions
How many Chevrolet Malibus are licensed by the TLC?
344 on October 12, 2026, all for-hire vehicles (FHVs) and none as yellow taxis. That is 0.3% of TLC-licensed vehicles. TLC Help counted them by decoding each vehicle's VIN with NHTSA's vPIC decoder, because TLC's lists have no model column.
Are there hybrid Malibus on TLC plates?
Only one decodes as a hybrid. The other 343 decode as gas. Across all FHVs, about 30% decode as hybrid and about 13% as battery electric.
Which model year of Malibu is most common?
2022, with 144 cars, or about 42% of all licensed Malibus. Model years 2023 (66) and 2024 (71) come next. Only 2 are model year 2025.
Can I get new TLC plates for a Malibu?
No. TLC only issues new FHV licenses for approved wheelchair accessible vehicles, and the Malibu is not on that list. If you already hold a regular (not WAV-restricted) FHV license, you can move it to a Malibu with a vehicle transfer.
Sources
Last reviewed against the official sources on .
- NYC Open Data: For Hire Vehicles (FHV) – Active (8wbx-tsch) data.cityofnewyork.us
- NYC Open Data: Medallion Vehicles – Authorized (rhe8-mgbb) data.cityofnewyork.us
- NHTSA vPIC VIN decoder API vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov
- fueleconomy.gov: 2022 Chevrolet Malibu 1.5 L turbo fueleconomy.gov
- fueleconomy.gov: 2022 Chevrolet Malibu 2.0 L turbo fueleconomy.gov
- TLC: Get a For-Hire Vehicle License nyc.gov
- TLC Rule Book Chapter 59 (For-Hire Vehicles) nyc.gov
Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll check it against the official source.
TLC Help is not a law firm and is not affiliated with the NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission or OATH. Explanations on this site are general information, not legal advice. Legal representation is provided by independent attorneys and OATH-registered representatives in our network.