The electric vehicle capital

The Mayor of London has stated that he wants every Londoner to be within one mile of an electric vehicle charging point by 2015. So how will this be achieved?

The Mayor of London’s ambitious plans to make London the electric vehicle capital of Europe took a major step forward with the confirmation of up to £17 million for an electric vehicle infrastructure. This will deliver a network of around 7,500 charging points by spring 2013 with 1,600 charge points to be installed over the next twelve months.

London already leads the way with electric vehicles with almost a quarter (1,700) of the 8,000 electric vehicles in the UK registered in the Capital. London is ideally suited to becoming an electric vehicle world leader. Ninety per cent of car trips in London are less than ten miles and more than ninety nine per cent of journeys are within the range of existing or near-market electric vehicles. This confirmed funding will make sure London continues to lead the way in the take up of electric vehicles.

Finding the funding
The funding consists £9.3 million from the Department for Transport and £7.6m pledged from a range of leading organisations. This will be supplemented by £5.6 million provided by Transport for London. This cash will fund thousands of electric charge points, contributing to the delivery of the Mayor’s target of 25,000 charge points in London by 2015 – with no Londoner more than a mile from a charging point by that time.
    
The planned network will be able to support tens of thousands more electric vehicles in London and will help realise the aim to encourage 100,000 electric vehicles in the capital as soon as possible. The total of 7,500 charging points are expected to deliver 6,000 points at work places, 500 on-street, 330 in public car parks, 50 at Tube stations, 140 in supermarket car parks and 120 for car clubs.

The London Consortium
TfL has played a key part in encouraging the take up of electric vehicles by funding approximately half of the electric vehicles charging points in London (over 250) and providing incentives such as the 100 per cent discount on the Congestion Charge for electric vehicles. A consortium led by Transport for London of public and private partners including London Boroughs, major supermarkets, energy companies, car park operators, vehicle manufacturers, car club and car hire companies, has secured the grant funding from the government’s £30 million ‘Plugged in Places’ fund. The London consortium is comprised of EDF Energy, Enterprise rent-a-car, Europcar, Hertz, London boroughs, NCP, Nissan, Sainsbury’s, Scottish & Southern Energy, Siemens, SMMT, Streetcar, Tesco, Transport for London and Zipcar.

Boris Johnson said: “I am absolutely thrilled that the government has recognised the collective commitment to electric vehicle use in the capital. This will unleash a large cash injection allowing Londoners to choose electric motoring in confidence. We will now be able to significantly speed up our existing plans for an unprecedented introduction of electric vehicle infrastructure, sealing London’s status as the electric capital of Europe.

“The success of this funding bid is testimony to the stellar line up of partner organisations working together with Transport for London, who together are providing money and their unstinting support to shift electric vehicle use away from niche to the mainstream.”
    
Pierre Loing, Nissan International vice president of product planning and strategy, who is in charge of the company’s zero emission business unit, said: “Nissan is delighted to be part of London’s successful Plugged-In consortium. We look forward to working with TfL and other consortium members to build a network of publicly accessible rapid charging points across London.” Chairman of London Councils’ Transport and Environment Committee, Councillor Mike Fisher, said: “London’s boroughs will be critical to getting more charging points for electric vehicles across the capital. This grant from the DfT will enable work to progress faster and further than would otherwise have been possible.”

Delivering the vision
Transport for London has been tasked by the Mayor to provide the framework which will help accelerate the take-up of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in London. Targets will address infrastructure, vehicles and incentives.
    
Under infrastructure targets, the aim is for every Londoner to be within one mile of an electric vehicle charging point by 2015. This will be achieved by the creation of 25,000 electric charge points (CPs) by 2015. 2,500 of these will be part of a publicly accessible charging network which TfL will contribute to via charge points at a number of different locations including London Underground car parks.
    
The creation of a pan-London scheme will aim to link the network of charging points and provide all-electric vehicle drivers with one point of access to use all the CPs in London. No commitment has been made by the boroughs in relation to this as of yet but it is hoped that all will sign up to this scheme.
    
Under vehicle targets, the aim is to have 100,000 EVs on London’s roads as soon as possible. This will be achieved by:

• 1,000 vehicles in the Greater London Authority (GLA) fleet by 2015.
• GLA suppliers will be encouraged to use electric vehicles. 
• Work will be undertaken to encourage the government, boroughs and LOCOG to include electric vehicles in their fleets. 
• Work will be undertaken with public transport vehicle manufacturers i.e. buses/taxis, to develop EVs that meet operational requirements. 
• Key businesses and commercial fleets will be encouraged to consider the environmental and business case for EVs and, where possible, to implement larger scale procurement.

Ideas to incentivise EVs include continuation of the congestion charge discount, and work towards a more consistent approach to EV parking across London. An incentives strategy will also be produced for consultation which will outline a package of measures for individuals, companies and the public sector to increase the uptake of EVs.  
    
The Mayor has previously announced that a single London-wide brand for electric vehicles in the capital will be launched during the coming months so that Londoners will be able to clearly identify where a charging point is located. A new website will also be launched containing everything people need to know about electric vehicles and charging points including details about where the nearest one can be found.  

Ahead of the game
The Mayor established the London Electric Vehicle Partnership, in November 2008, and has been working to greatly increase the use of electric vehicles in the capital. The partnership includes representatives of the Greater London Authority, the motor and energy industries and the capital’s boroughs, all working to share best practice, co-ordinate activity, and encourage greater funding of the technology. The Mayor published an electric vehicle action plan in May 2009. For more information, visit: www.london.gov.uk/electricvehicles
    
At present there are over 250 charging points in London, over half funded by TfL, with 1,700 electric vehicles currently registered – far exceeding numbers anywhere else in the UK. A 25,000 strong network will be able to support tens of thousands more electric vehicles in London and will help realise the vision of 100,000 electric vehicles in the capital by 2020. The 7,500 charge points to be installed by 2013 will be a mix of standard, fast and rapid charging points. Different types of charging points will be installed in different sorts of locations across the capital.   
    
Manufacturers are investing hundreds of millions to bring a greater choice of vehicles to consumers. Small and medium cars from major car companies are expected in the next few years starting with Mitsubishi iMiEV this year and Renault, Ford, Nissan and Peugeot planning new models by 2012.

Benefitting the environment
Electric cars will deliver considerable benefits to the environment by improving air quality, cutting emissions and reducing noise pollution. Sixty-nine per cent of harmful particulate emissions in London come from road transport whereas electric cars have zero emissions when being driven. Electric vehicles also result in between thirty and forty per cent lower carbon emissions than comparable petrol or diesel cars and this will reduce further over time as the amount of electricity generated by renewable sources increases. Electric vehicles can also contribute towards the reduction of other harmful emissions such as Nitrogen Oxide (NOx), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Particulate Emissions (PM10).
    
Electric Vehicles are now viewed as the nearest available mass market green technology, however, numbers in the UK remain low.  
    
For their benefits to be truly realised more people must make the decision to use EVs as a mode of transport. But first, investment in an EV infrastructure is needed to provide an initial network of charging points to build customer confidence and allow the market to grow. With the Capital leading the way, Londoners will demonstrate to other cities across the world how it can be done.