London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan, has appointed a special Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Taskforce to tackle the impending crisis on available electric vehicle chargers in the capital.
Khan’s move brings together 16 organisations, with representatives from business, energy and infrastructure working in partnership with the Government and local London boroughs to investigate ways in which they can improve the city’s charging infrastructure.
Khan said: “I’m delighted to launch a new Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Taskforce today, bringing together industry, businesses and the public sector to work together to deliver electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the capital. London’s filthy air is a public health crisis, and encouraging more Londoners to switch from diesel to electric vehicles is critical in tackling it.”
Previously the issue of electric vehicle charging points had been handled by Transport for London, but this new move will speed up the installations in order to meet the unprecedented rates of growth in the EV plug-in market.
The most recent figures suggest that EV car sales have surged by 50% putting more than 200,000 electric cars on the UK’s road network. And with a proposed ban on the sale of non-plug-in cars mooted by 2040, the UK will require a further 31.2 chargers in the next 22 years.
Whilst most of the expected charging will be done at home and places of work, there is still some work to be done for those who want to charge vehicles on-the-go. However some campaigners have said that government regulations need to be eased to allow local authorities to hire private companies to install and maintain the plugs. Currently regulations are forcing local authorities to purchase their own charge points, which is a costly excercise.
London is pushing forward for a greener city, with the T-Charge requiring high-polluting vehicles to pay additional fees to travel through the city centre, there has even been talk of free parking for electric vehicles in the capital.