Sadiq Khan and London Councils have promised that thousands more electric vehicle charging points will be delivered across all 32 boroughs and the City of London, helping the city to become a net-zero carbon city by 2030
Over £35m of capital funding from the Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (Levi) will be given to the project as part of the mayor’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy to deliver 40-60,000 electric vehicle charge points by 2030. A further £3m of capability funding will be used to fund officers and support the delivery of charge points across the city.
The LEVI funding replaced OZEV’s Go Ultra Low City Scheme (GULCS), through which London boroughs, with the support of the Mayor and TfL, collaborated to design a programme which delivered over 4,200 charge points, 19 car club charge points, three community charging hubs and eight rapid charge points, exceeding the initial target of 2,150.
London is home to one-third of the UK’s total electric charge points
Currently, London has close to 13,000 electric charge points– around one-third of the UK’s total – an increase of more than 200% since 2019. This equates to one charge point for every four registered electric vehicles in London. The city also has the most public rapid charge points by volume and share of any city in Europe.
This equates to one charge point for every four registered electric vehicles in the city, compared with the national average of one charge point for every 12 vehicles. London also has the most public rapid charge points by volume and share of any European city. The organisations have ensured the public that a particular focus will be placed on supporting those who do not have access to off-street parking. The funding will enable cross-border collaboration between different boroughs when procuring and delivering the charge points.
Electric vehicles will help create cleaner, greener, fairer cities
“Alongside our work to boost walking, cycling and public transport, this funding will help to build a better London for everyone – a city that is cleaner, greener, fairer and more prosperous for all,” said Sadiq Khan.
TfL and the mayor have overseen the implementation of over 300 rapid charge points since 2016 and promised 100 new sites in 2023. In total, over 500 rapid charge points have been delivered via the private sector in London, and 10,000 slow-to-fast charge points have been installed in the city since 2016.
“Shifting to electric vehicles is just one of the ways we can clean up our air and bring down harmful, toxic emissions. London is leading the way in the delivery of electric vehicle charge points and infrastructure, and this funding will help ensure that we can reach our ambition to have at the very least one electric vehicle charge point on every street where needed,” added Khan.
“London boroughs have installed 9,000 charge points since 2016, but we know further extensive investment in London’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure is crucial to making it as easy as possible for Londoners across the capital to make the switch to cleaner travel options,” concluded Philip Glanville, London Councils’ climate change, transport, and environment lead.
