Boost For Electric Car Owners
More charging sockets being installed in East Putney
The council has announced that work is now underway installing another 167 new electric vehicle charging sockets across the borough, including in every suitable lampost in two zones in Putney and Battersea.
Area receiving extra lamppost sockets
In Putney the lampost sockets are being targeted primarily in specific areas of Putney’s Thamesfield ward which has been chosen because it will be within the Mayor’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which is poised to be extended in the autumn 2021 to include all areas within the north and south circular roads.
When the ULEZ is extended drivers of all vehicles and motorcycles which enter the zone and which don’t comply with its emission restrictions will have to pay £12.50 a day - but electric vehicles will be exempt.
Transport spokesman John Locker, pictured above, said: “We want to be pioneers in promoting more eco-friendly forms of transport and part of that is doing what we can to help persuade people who do need their cars to make the switch to electric.
“By providing the right kind of infrastructure we can make it a viable option for people to replace their petrol and diesel engined cars and go-electric.”
This latest investment is helping the council meet its target of delivering nearly 900 on-street charging points in total. This phase will bring the total of publicly available EV charging points in the borough to around 560, with a further 140 planned before the end of this year and more installations to follow in 2021.
The annual number of plug-in vehicles bought by people living in the borough has grown from 252 in 2012 to 4,527 in 2019 – with numbers rising by more than ten per cent every three months.
The council’s own fleet of cars, vans and lorries is gradually being replaced by electric versions. All will eventually go electric as suitable vehicles become available.
There are also EV choices available for those who don’t need to own a vehicle but want to enjoy occasional eco-friendly motoring.
The Zipcar Flex car club includes a proportion of EVs, offering a convenient and eco-friendly alternative to car ownership, providing electric vehicles to hire by the hour, day or longer periods. Wandsworth has the highest take-up rate of car club membership in the country with more than 31,000 registered members.
Cllr Locker added: “It’s becoming ever clearer by the day that the future of motoring is electric. All the major manufacturers have signalled they’ll soon be phasing out diesel and petrol engines while the Government has also announced that sales of new petrol and diesel cars will be outlawed within a generation.
“It’s vitally important that all levels of government, including city mayors and local councils start providing the infrastructure that will be needed to keep people on the move.
“Here in Wandsworth we are determined to be well ahead of the game. Ours is an ambitious programme which has the potential to achieve a real improvement in air quality. We’ve already done a lot to tackle the problem and this investment in electric vehicle infrastructure will help us do even more.”
For more information about electric vehicle ownership in the borough visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/driveelectric.
August 7, 2020