Future of electric cars in London looks bright with a roll-out of public charging points
By Alexandra Causer
The future of electric cars in London looks bright as the city’s roll-out of public charging points puts it at the forefront of the electric car revolution, according to new figures.
Department for Transport figures revealed that Wandsworth currently boasts 596 charging points with Hammersmith and Fulham closely following with 528.
The figures also showed the capital as benefiting from the highest number of installed charging devices in the country.
Founder of the insurance comparison website Quotezone, Greg Wilson said: “London has made impressive progress installing vital infrastructure for electric vehicle owners.
“Even though greener cars are becoming more popular at the expense of diesel and petrol cars, there are issues which could take the government’s ambitious plans off the road.”
One challenge the electric car industry faces is ‘range anxiety’, with motorists often holding off buying electric cars because they fear the lack of a charging points could leave them stranded.
Mr Wilson added: “However, London’s strong progress and initiatives such as Ofgem’s new scheme, bodes well for London’s electric car future.
“Additionally, insurance premiums may have been higher historically as spare parts for electric vehicles could be harder to source and mechanics that specialise in these particular vehicles were harder to find.
“But as electric cars become more mainstream and a growing number of insurance providers enter the electric car insurance market, we expect the average cost of insuring electric cars to fall steadily.”
The Prime Minister has said wholly powered petrol and diesel cars will not be sold in the UK from 2030 as part of the green industrial revolution to tackle climate change.
The Government has also said it plans to invest more than £2.8 billion in electric vehicles, with intentions to lace the nation with new charging points.
You can access a map of public charging points for electric cars and further stats info here: http://maps.dft.gov.uk/ev-charging-map/
As one of the many manual workers living and working in London to support wealthy businesses in the City, I’m very pleased to hear that there are to be more charging points for electric cars. Like many low paid people in London I run an old car that is valued in the hundreds of pounds rather than the tens of thousands. Soon my car will be banned from much of London because of it’s emissions and, like millions of my fellow workers, there will be no way I can afford and electric car or a low emission one. So thank you Boris and thank you Sadiq Khan for making my life even more difficult. Helping the rich will not get you my vote!