The London borough of Wandsworth is set to receive a multimillion pound boost to help further fund its electric vehicle growth. Councillors on the community services scrutiny committee are to have a meeting on the 20th of February, where they will be told plans to advance the electric vehicle offering in Wandsworth.
The borough is to receive 227 more electric vehicle charging lamp posts and will have charging plugs installed in 380 lamp posts within two pilot zones, in order to gauge local demand and to encourage people to make a switch to electric vehicles. This will be piloted in Putney and Battersea.
There will be 120 Source London car charging points installed across Wandsworth to add to the existing 99 used in 33 locations in the borough. Likewise, there will be new e-car club established in order to provide convenient and eco-friendly alternative to car ownership. Electric vehicle hire will be provided by the hour, day or week.
The council’s transport and environment spokesman Councillor, Jonathan Cook, spoke out about the rise of electric vehicles in Wandsworth, explaining that by creating an extensive network of charging points, the council is aiming to “remove one of the biggest hurdles facing people when they begin to think about the feasibility of changing from petrol and diesel to electric.”
He continues: “We know that many of our residents have already embraced this new technology and many more are thinking about it. We want to do all we can to help them make that switch,” adding, “If we are serious about improving air quality levels in our city then bold and radical steps like this are what’s required.”
“This is an ambitious programme of change which has the potential to achieve a real improvement in air quality. We’ve already done a lot to tackle pollution in Wandsworth but we recognise that more needs to be done,” concludes Cook.
