To mark World EV Day (29 September) Westminster City Council has announced it is planning to nearly double the number of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points in Westminster by installing an additional 500 charging points across the borough by March 2023 – taking the total to over 2,000 charging points, the most in the country.

The council has recently been successful in securing a large award of external funding from central Government that will result in a further 500 resident charging points, to add to the 1,500 that are already on the public highway in Westminster. While the council is committed to installing at least 500 by March 2023, it is working towards installing an additional 500 charging points (1,000 in total) throughout the rest of 2023.

The installation of these additional EV charging points will start in September 2022 in the south of the borough.

Currently the council has 1,250 lamp post charge points which will be updated to ‘SmartSocket’ points over the next two months, with the initial trial to be rolled out at the end of September in partnership with Ubitricity, which will see reduced prices for residents to be able to do overnight, off-peak charging. These smart-charging points will also relive pressure on the grid by encouraging overnight charging.

The council is also increasing its provision of the standard, free standing fast charging points and is also looking at increasing rapid EV charging provision. Next year, there will be an additional 30 rapid, high kilowatt charging points for commercial vehicles to use, turning white van men into green van men.

The increase in the number of EV charging points installed is just one of the ways the council is investing in green infrastructure. Last month, the council, in partnership with Veolia, rolled out a fleet of new electric street cleaner bikes, adding to the electric vehicles already in operation. This new fleet of bikes cuts down the number of diesel vehicles used to collect fly tipped rubbish, monitor hot spot areas and deliver commercial waste bags in Westminster, and cuts 100 per cent of Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) emissions and reduces noise pollution for residents.

The council is also currently consulting boat owners at Paddington Basin to identify opportunities to improve the air quality along the canal and the potential of turning the Basin into an eco-mooring zone.

Westminster is also encouraging more active travel in and around the borough, and recently opposed the proposed bus cuts by TfL in central London due to a lack of funding by central Government. In a time where active travel in the borough is encouraged through walking, cycling and use of London’s public transport, the council says cutting back on vital bus networks makes this more difficult to do.

Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, Cabinet Member for City Management and Air Quality at Westminster City Council, said: “Westminster has some of the highest carbon emissions and poorest air quality of any local authority and urgent steps need to be taken if we want to improve. Reducing travel by petrol or diesel cars is one of the most effective ways to improve air quality, so this big increase in charging points and the electrification of the Veolia waste cleansing fleet demonstrates how seriously the new administration is taking air quality.

“Fifteen per cent of all residents with parking permits are those with electric vehicles, and while this is double the amount from 2020, the council is working towards a scenario where all resident vehicles in Westminster become electric in the future. This pledge for an additional 500 charging points to be installed across the borough, with a potential stretch target of 1000, is a big step toward reaching this goal.

 “As well as increasing our green infrastructure, we continue to deliver a range of walking and cycling schemes, including a recent decision to deliver a Brompton bike hire scheme proposed at sites near some of our busiest rail stations like Paddington, and also increasing the number of cycle storage units. All of these measures will help support us in our ambition to make Westminster an even better place to work, visit and live in for current and future generations.”