The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has urged ministers to speed up the rollout of EV infrastructure nationally after announcing more than 80 new rapid charging electric points are to be delivered across the capital.
London has almost a third of all the charge points in the UK, and the highest volume and share of rapid charge points for any European city, according to the Mayour’s office.
Today, Transport for London (TfL) has released to market more land – giving the opportunity for new suppliers to deliver rapid and ultra-rapid charge points across the TfL road network.
The mayor published his EV Infrastructure Strategy in December 2021, which forecast that London will need between 40,000 to 60,000 public charge points by 2030. Up to 4,000 of these will need to be rapid. To date, there are 12,800 charge points in London, of which over 900 are rapid or ultra-rapid.
TfL will be inviting bids from suppliers for two delivery contracts which include 51 sites in total across north and south London and will deliver 83 charging bays, adding to the initial lot of sites which went out to market in November 2022. The sites are located on strategic roads to support high mileage, essential road users such as commercial vehicles and businesses. In May 2023, a delivery contract was awarded to Zest, with 39 rapid charging bays expected to be delivered by the end of 2024.
This will mean that TfL have released 122 rapid charging bays to the market in total, exceeding the initial target of 100. Subject to the supplier and agreed contracts, the remaining sites could all be delivered by the end of 2025.
Khan said: ““As more electric vehicles come onto our roads, it’s vital that London has the infrastructure to support them. TfL will be releasing another two batches of sites to the market to deliver public rapid and ultra-rapid charge points across its road network. These sites will play a huge part in supporting high mileage, essential road users such as commercial vehicles and businesses and will help us work towards building a greener and more prosperous London for everyone.
“But while London is leading the way, we need to see more action nationally to pick up the pace delivering electric vehicle infrastructure. When it comes to making the transition to cleaner vehicles and delivering the benefits of cleaner air, this must be considered an urgent national mission.
Christina Calderato, TfL’s director of strategy and policy said: “Introducing a further 83 rapid electric vehicle charging points across more than 50 sites on TfL’s road network is an important milestone in the Mayor’s commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions in London by 2030. Increased availability of rapid charging points across the capital will encourage and support individuals and businesses in making the transition to zero-emission vehicles, reducing air pollution for the benefit of all Londoners and helping to tackle climate change.”
Responding to the mayor’s comments, Chris Pateman-Jones, CEO of Connected Kerb, said: “While rapid charging across the capital is important, it is vital to acknowledge that there is not a one-size-fits-all solution to EV charging. Public charging must reach all communities – from those living in blocks of flats to terraced houses – and that’s where on-street charging comes in.
We are about to witness a step-change in EV charging through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund, which will see a huge injection of government funding to local authorities to enable roll-out of on-street charging at scale. Charge point networks, like Connected Kerb, are ready to turn these ambitious plans into real-life solutions that will help millions of households, in London and elsewhere, to make the switch.”
