Councillors back Wandsworth EV charging proposals

Wandsworth council’s community services committee has backed proposals to improve the electric vehicle charging network in the borough by installing a charging point on every residential street.

Following endorsement from the committee at a Wednesday last night, committee, council officers have now been tasked with exploring all available options for a major expansion of charging points across Wandsworth.

Council officers have been tasked with exploring all available options for a major expansion of charging points across Wandsworth

This will include evaluating the cost and logistics involved in placing e-vehicle charging plugs in every lampost in the borough’s residential streets.

According to documents published ahead of Wednesday’s meeting, take-up of electric vehicles is rapidly accelerating within the borough, with 353 electric vehicles having been registered during the second quarter of 2017 — up from just over 120 during the same period two years earlier.

The council is seeking to provide a ‘thorough and coordinated’ approach to recharging infrastructure that will encourage uptake of EVs to “improve air quality and provide a means of sustainable travel for all.”

Wandsworth currently has 35 charging points in 11 locations across the borough — and there are existing plans to install another 50 in 20 further locations by the turn of the year.

Charging

Lamp post charging would have no impact on existing parking provision in the borough, the council has claimed.

Cabinet member for community services Councillor Jonathan Cook said: “The future of motoring is electric. The Government has announced that in 2040 petrol and diesel vehicles will no longer be sold in the UK. This means that councils need to start planning ahead now to make sure we deliver the infrastructure to keep people moving. Nowhere is this more relevant than here in inner London where air quality is a real concern.

“Providing convenient charging is the key. We need to make it easy for people to go-electric.

“What we will now be doing is exploring all the available options to make this happen. Council officers will be drawing up a series of options to dramatically increase and improve coverage across the entire borough.

“There will be a range of options for us to consider once these investigations have been concluded but I am personally of the view that if the finances and logistics stack up then we should certainly be looking at as many lampposts as we can.”