Wandsworth moves step closer to ‘ambitious’ e-motoring infrastructure

Wandsworth charging points

The prospect of electric vehicle charging points being installed on every residential street in Wandsworth has moved a step closer after councillors backed ‘ambitious plans for a major expansion in the borough’s e-motoring infrastructure’.

Approved on 16 November, the plans centre around the possibility of installing electric vehicles charging point on every lamppost across the borough’s residential areas.

Explaining that Wandsworth needs to ‘make it easy for people to go-electric’, Cllr Jonathan Cook, cabinet member for community services, said ‘providing convenient charging is the key’.

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.

Wandsworth Council officers have now been tasked with exploring all available options for a major expansion of charging points, including the cost and logistics involved in placing charging plugs in every lamppost on residential streets.

Cllr 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.

“We will now be 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.”


 

04 December 2017