Mayor Boris Johnson announces plans for all new taxis to be zero emission capable from 2018, but Green Assembly Member Jenny Jones says he needs to improve the charging network or Londoners health will suffer as a result.
Electric car charging points in an ASDA car park in Galashiels, photograph courtesy of Walter Baxter.
The Mayor has announced plans for all new taxis licenced in London should be zero emission capable from 2018.
Jenny Jones has raised concerns that we are relying on a private company to deliver plans for 6,000 charging points in London by 2018. London needs to have the electric charging point infrastructure to encourage the widespread use of these new taxis. The Mayor’s Electric Vehicle Delivery Plan (2009) aimed to install 25,000 charging points by 2015. He then announced plans (2010) for 7,500 electric car charging points on London’s roads by 2013. He actually achieved 1,300.
Jenny Jones said: “The taxi manufacturers are making real progress in cleaning up their act and the Mayor has a crucial role in encouraging taxi drivers to make the switch as quickly as possible.”
“Some of these electric taxis will be on the roads by 2015, but our electric charging network is simply not up to the job of supporting them. The Mayor should get on with meeting his original target of 25,000 charging points in order to help those taxi drivers who want to do the right thing, and make the switch to non-polluting vehicles next year. Londoners can rightly expect to be breathing clean air and we can’t afford to miss the opportunity to go electric, when we have between one and two thousand taxis being replaced every year.”
“London also has no rapid charging network which will mean that cabbies will have to slowly recharge their taxis when they run out of juice, which will potentially cost them trade and money. Unless the Mayor delivers an increase in charging points, a great opportunity for reducing pollution in London will go to waste and the health of Londoners will suffer as a result.”