The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has challenged the Government to ‘put its money where its mouth is’ and back his ambitious plans to make London the electric car capital of Europe, helping to create jobs, cut carbon emissions and improve air quality.
The Mayor outlined a series of major initiatives to achieve at least 100,000 electric vehicles on the capital’s streets as soon as possible, equating to five per cent of total vehicles. These include working with businesses, boroughs and other public sector organisations to deliver 25,000 charging spaces in London’s workplaces, retail outlets, streets, public car parks and station car parks by 2015 and converting at least 1,000 Greater London Authority fleet vehicles to electric by 2015. Additionally the mayor proposes an alteration to the London Plan to require the installation of charging points in all new developments to ensure that at least 20 per cent of all new car parking spaces are equipped with charge points. Meanwhile the mayor is also hoping to guarantee that the 100 per cent exemption of the congestion charge for electric vehicles will remain in place, saving electric car users approximately £1700 a year.
Mr Johnson’s initiatives will also look to assist with the uptake of electric vehicles used by car clubs in the city. A continued ‘London Electric Vehicle Partnership’, bringing together key players to coordinate the introduction of electric vehicles should help to continue the work to extend and support the use of electric vehicles already undertaken within the capital.
The Mayor, said: “The time for simply talking about electric vehicles is over – we need real action on the ground to make the electric vehicle an easy choice for Londoners. I am today committing millions to install the infrastructure needed for when, in just a few years time, these vehicles become much more widely available.
“This is an unprecedented package of measures to make London the electric car capital of Europe. By taking these steps, we will not only create green collar jobs, but also smooth the way for less polluting transport choices which will improve our air quality, reduce traffic noise and contribute significantly to my carbon emissions reduction target.
“It is time for the Government to put its money where its mouth is and back my plan to make electric vehicles the first choice for Londoners.”
The estimated cost of the 25,000 charging points and conversion of the Greater London Authority fleet to kick-start London’s electric vehicle revolution is £60million – the Mayor has pledged to fund a third of this and is calling for the Government and the private sector to commit the remainder.
The Government has committed £250million to accelerate the electric vehicle market in the UK – the Mayor will be lobbying for London to receive a significant share of this in recognition of the importance of the capital to the uptake of electric vehicles. London is both the biggest car market and has the largest number of electric vehicles being already driven in the UK.
The growth of electric vehicles is significant for the creation of a green economy and job creation. It is estimated that 100,000 cars will directly lead to thousands more jobs in car manufacturing, supply chain industries and in the provision and maintenance of the infrastructure for the cars.
Electric cars will also deliver considerable benefits to the environment by improving air quality, cutting emissions and reducing noise pollution. Sixty-nine per cent of harmful particulate emissions in London come from road transport whereas electric cars have zero emissions when being driven. Electric vehicles also result in between twenty-five and fifty per cent lower carbon emissions than comparable petrol or diesel cars and this will reduce further over time as the amount of energy – which charges the electric vehicles batteries – generated by renewable sources increases.
Many of the world’s major car manufacturers are planning to turn their prototype electric vehicles into full production by 2011/12. The provision of infrastructure and incentives will give a further encouragement to manufacturers to bring accelerate production of electric vehicles.
