Questions on electric vehicles
Q. Gary - Please let me know what other plans Westminster have to expand electric vehicle charging facilities across the entire borough?
A. We published our strategy earlier this calendar year that sets out a five year plan for charge point roll out. This year is this first year of the strategy and we plan to double the number of charge points across the city with the aim of 1,000 by the end of March 2021. This will significantly be made up of charge points for residents retrofitted into lamp columns but will also include a significant increase in rapid charge points across the city. Read the electric vehicles strategy.
We have introduced a number of new parking bays that are for EV resident charging only to see how this affects utilisation rates of those lamp column charge points they sit alongside. The results will determine the extent to which this will be extended. We are significantly increasing the number of lamp columns in Westminster too which will provide significantly more charging options for residents, meaning that where such instances do occur there are plenty of alternatives.
Q. Jonathan - I know you're working with TFL to install some charging points for electric vehicles In London, including taxis, but there are areas with very few or none.
How can you increase this to meet demand? Would the council support/work with private companies to increase charging points in London for electric vehicles including taxis? Is there grant money available to the private sector?
A. We have been working with TfL to introduce rapid charge points into the city, initially aimed at providing the infrastructure to complement the transition of the black taxi fleet on taxi rest and refreshment ranks. Additionally, though we have introduced about sixteen 22kW charge points around the city that, although are publicly available, are well suited to delivering a significant charge to taxis. We are also aiming to increase the number of rapid charge points on the highway from 6 currently to approximately 30 by the end of the financial year.
The council is happy to look at all number of possibilities to aid the introduction of greater levels of charging infrastructure into the city.
Grant funding is available to support charging infrastructure installation and this is principally through the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV).