The Mayor of London has set out his plans for how London will remain at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution and his determination for London to become a cleaner, green and healthier city.
Sadiq Khan told the Evening Standard Plug It In event at the Design Museum that City Hall has identified sites on the Transport for London Road Network which will be suitable for a further 100 ultra-rapid charge points. The first 25 of these will be put out to tender on 30 November, and 75 more will follow by the end of April next year, with the aim for all 100 to be operational by the end of 2023.
London now has more than 11,000 public charge points, of which 820 are rapid or ultra-rapid. This is a third of the UK’s total and a 170 per cent increase from 2019. London also has the most public rapid charge points by volume and share of any European city. There is one charge point for every four registered electric vehicles in London compared with the national average of one charge point for every twelve vehicles.
In the speech, Mr Khan explained that for this progress to continue it is essential that the right sort of charging points are built at pace to meet the expected requirement of 40,000-60,000 charging points by 2030, with around 10 per cent of these being rapid charge points.
Ultra-rapid charge points can deliver a full charge in 20-30 minutes and are therefore most suitable for high mileage users, such as the emergency services, taxis and private hire vehicles, delivery drivers and local businesses.
Mr Khan said: “I’m in no doubt that the shift to electric vehicles is imperative to cleaning up our air and bringing down harmful emissions. As a city, we’ve travelled an impressive distance in a relatively short period of time in terms of rolling out the necessary infrastructure and encouraging the uptake of electric vehicles. But the gravity of the threats we face from the climate crisis and toxic air pollution demand that we now redouble our efforts and go even further, even faster.”
“It’s vital we don’t take our foot off the pedal now and lose momentum. That’s why my administration has published its Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy and set a target of quadrupling – at a minimum – the number of public charge points in London by 2030.
“Freeing up public land to deliver more charging points, and charging hubs, will be crucial to hitting and, hopefully, exceeding this target. And so to that end, I’m pleased to announce that next Wednesday TfL will be putting 25 of its sites out to tender for charge point operators.”
He concluded his speech by calling for collaboration.
“We must…deepen our collaboration. To make it easier and more convenient for Londoners to go electric. To establish our city’s reputation as a world leader in the delivery of charging points and infrastructure.
“And to ultimately build a better London for everyone – a city that is greener, safer, fairer and more prosperous for all. This is my vision for the future of our city and its road network and I hope that, together, we can bring it to life and usher in a new, healthier, electric age for London.”
(Picture – Yay Images)
