The Mayor, Boris Johnson's, ambitious plans to make London the electric vehicle capital of Europe took a major step forward today with the confirmation of up to £17 million for electric vehicle infrastructure. This will deliver a network of around 7500 charging points by spring 2013 with 1,600 charge points to be installed over the next twelve months.

The funding consists £9.3 million from the Department for Transport announced today (Thursday 25 February), which will join £5.6 million provided by Transport for London and £7.6m pledged from a range of leading organisations. This cash will fund thousands of electric charge points contributing to the delivery of the Mayor's target of 25,000 charge points in London by 2015, with no Londoner more than a mile from a charging point by that time. The planned network will be able to support tens of thousands more electric vehicles in London and will help realise the aim to encourage 100,000 electric vehicles in the capital  as soon as possible.  The total of 7500 charging points are expected to deliver 6000 points at work places, 500 on-street, 330 in public car parks, 50 at Tube stations, 140 in supermarket car park and 120 for car clubs.

A consortium led by Transport for London of public and private partners including London Boroughs, major supermarkets, energy companies, car park operators, vehicle manufacturers, car club and car hire companies, has secured the grant funding from the Government's £30 million 'Plugged in Places' fund. The London consortium is comprised of EDF Energy, Enterprise rent-a-car, Europcar, Hertz, London boroughs, NCP, Nissan, Sainsbury's, Scottish & Southern Energy, Siemens, SMMT, Streetcar, Tesco, Transport for London and Zipcar.

 
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: 'I am absolutely thrilled that the Government has recognised the collective commitment to electric vehicle use in the capital. This will unleash a large cash injection allowing Londoners to choose electric motoring in confidence. We will now be able to significantly speed up our existing plans for an unprecedented introduction of electric vehicle infrastructure, sealing London's status as the electric capital of Europe.

'The success of this funding bid is testimony to the stellar line up of partner organisations working together with Transport for London, who are together are providing money and their unstinting support to shift electric vehicle use away from niche to the mainstream.'

Pierre Loing, Nissan International vice president of product planning and strategy and in charge of the company's zero emission business unit, said:  'Nissan is delighted to be part of London's successful Plugged-In consortium. We look forward to working with TfL and other consortium members to build a network of publicly accessible rapid charging points across London.'

Chairman of London Councils' Transport and Environment Committee, Councillor Mike Fisher, said:  'London's boroughs will be critical to getting more charging points for electric vehicles across the capital. This grant from the DfT will enable work to progress faster and further than would otherwise have been possible.'

 The Mayor has previously announced that a single London-wide brand for electric vehicles in the capital will be launched during the coming months so that Londoners will be able to clearly identify where a charging point is located. A new website will also be launched containing everything you need to know about electric vehicles and charging points including details about where the nearest one can be found. Electric vehicles are also exempt from the central London congestion charge. The Mayor has also committed to 1000 electric vehicles for the GLA group fleet by 2015. The Mayor is seeking funding from the Government to help deliver this major introduction of electric vehicles, recognising the massive potential this has to catalyse the market.

 
At present there are over 250 charging points in London, over half funded by TfL, with 1,700 electric vehicles currently registered – far exceeding numbers anywhere else in the UK. A  25,000 strong network will be able to support tens of thousands more electric vehicles in London and will help realise the vision of 100,000 electric vehicles in the capital by 2020.

 
The 7500 charge points to be installed by 2013 will be a mix of standard, fast and rapid charging points. Different types of charging points will be installed in different sorts of locations across the capital.  

 
London is ideally suited to becoming an electric vehicle world leader. 90 per cent of car trips in London are less than 10 miles and more than 99 per cent of journeys are within the range of existing or near-market electric vehicles.

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 thirty and forty 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.

Manufacturers are investing hundreds of millions to bring a greater choice of vehicles to consumers. Small and medium cars from major car companies are expected in the next few years starting with Mitsubishi iMiEV this year and Renault, Ford, Nissan and Peugeot planning new models by 2012.

The Mayor established the London Electric Vehicle Partnership, in November 2008,  has been working to greatly increase the use of electric vehicles in the capital. The partnership includes representatives of the Greater London Authority, the motor and energy industries and the capital's boroughs, all working to share best practice, co-ordinate activity, and encourage greater funding of the technology. The Mayor published an electric vehicle action plan in May 2009.  For more information, visit: www.london.gov.uk/electricvehicles