Sadiq Khan urges ministers to ‘pick up pace’ on electric vehicle charging infrastructure

Sadiq Khan is urging the government to “pick up pace” in speeding up the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure nationally.

The mayor has announced plans to deliver more than 80 new rapid charging points across the capital.

Transport for London (TfL) will be inviting bids from suppliers on Friday to deliver some 83 new EV rapid or ultra-rapid charging bays on several main roads, comprising 45 bays in north London and 38 south of the river.

The north London charging bays will be in Islington, Enfield, Redbridge, Haringey, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Barnet and Camden.

In south London they will be located in Bromley, Croydon, Sutton, Wandsworth, Merton and Lambeth.

City Hall says London currently 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.

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.

To date, there are 12,800 charge points in London, of which over 900 are rapid or ultra rapid.

The mayor made the announcement on a visit to Volta Trucks, to mark the launch of the UK customer operations of their all-electric heavy goods vehicle (HGV).

The mayor 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.”

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “We’ve put more than £2bn into helping people switch to electric vehicles and have taken the lead in supporting the private sector installing charge points.

“In the first three months of the year, we have seen more than 760 rapid or above speed charge points installed across the UK, up 11% over those months.”