London Dreams Electric

Joining the ranks of those who are developing electric vehicle infrastructure, London promises to become Europe's electric car capital of the world, and this within in our life time. By 2015 to be more precise.

The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has made public today a plan to make electric vehicles the focus of his office's agenda for the following years. The plan, which was announced this month in Seoul, calls for the implementation of some 25,000 charging stations in the capital by 2015.

Those charging stations are to serve, in Johnson's vision, no less than 100,000 electric vehicles he hopes to see circling the streets by then.

To make this plan feasible, the mayor has some aces up his sleave. EVs receive in the UK a 100 percent discount on the Congestion Charge, amounting to around £1,700 a year. He counts on the fact that Londoners make shorter trips than other people: some 84 percent of them travel less than 20 km a day, making the EV the most logical choice.

In addition, London already has the biggest electric and hybrid vehicle fleet in the UK. In all, some 1,700 electric and more than 15,000 hybrid vehicles are already registered for the Congestion Charge discount.

The plan is built around three major points: developing an infrastructure, making EVs more visible in London and stimulating the market. The mayor will create a Dedicated Electric Vehicle Centre of Excellence (DEVCoE) in the Greater London Authority (GLA) to liaise with member cities of the Climate Leadership Group (Seoul, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Toronto, Delhi, Sao Paulo, Beijing and Sydney), techradar.com reported.

The full, detailed plan mayor Boris Johnson has for London can be found, studied, criticized or improved upon in the attached PDF below.

⌕ Download attached PDF: London EV plan