PRESS RELEASE : Mayor announces plan to keep London at forefront of the electric vehicle revolution [November 2022]

The press release issued by the Mayor of London on 24 November 2022.

• City Hall and TfL release land for 100 new rapid public charging points on busy London roads suitable for businesses, emergency service vehicles and taxis
• London now has the most public rapid charge points by volume and share of any European city
• 4,500 jobs are expected to be created to supporting charging infrastructure in London with thousands more across the country supporting London’s electric future

In a keynote speech at the ‘Evening Standard Plug It In’ event at the Design Museum this evening, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, will 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.

He will announce that City Hall has identified sites on the Transport for London Road Network which will be suitable for a further 100 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.

This has only been possible due to the Mayor’s leadership in the sector with his 2019 Electric Vehicle Strategy and now the London EV Infrastructure Delivery Plan setting the capital on course for a cleaner, greener future. But 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. London is on track to meet this target but to facilitate this ambitious goal, the Mayor wants to go further by facilitating space for a 100 new rapid charge points.

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.

In the keynote speech, the Mayor is expected to say:

“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.”

The Mayor’s climate action is also creating new green jobs for Londoners. The Mayor is committed to investing in these jobs and skills of the future to help double the size of London’s green economy and establish good, green jobs within communities that need them most. The European Association of Electrical Contractors estimate that 200,000 permanent jobs will be created in the electric vehicles sector in Europe, with around 57 per cent of jobs supporting the installation, operation and maintenance of electric vehicle charging points. More than 4,500 jobs are expected to be created to supporting charging infrastructure in London alone.

Further jobs will also be created beyond London through UK supply chains and associated industries. Electrifying London’s bus fleet by 2030, for example, could drive substantial bus orders in manufacturing locations such as Ballymena, Scarborough, Falkirk and Yorkshire, representing a gross investment into bus manufacturing of £4 billion and supporting 3,000 jobs.

The Mayor will finish his speech with a call for greater collaboration between all those involved in the EV industry:

“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.”

The next decade will see a fundamental reimagining of how Londoners move around their city as the Mayor moves London towards net-zero by 2030. Electric vehicles will play a key part of this plan alongside encouraging more Londoners to cycle, walk and use public transport.