Sadiq Khan powers up plans for expanded London EV network
Mayor visits Midland’s electric black cab factory as he promises to free up more land for EV charging infrastructure
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has pledged to unlock more public land for electric vehicle (EV) charge points around the capital as part of a new strategy to accelerate update of zero emission vehicles across the city.
The launch of the draft version of London’s 2030 Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy was launched as the city’s mayor yesterday visited the London Electric Vehicle Company factory in Coventry which produces ‘zero emission capable’ black cabs for the capital.
The new strategy, which will be finalised later this year, commits the Mayor’s office to working with the Greater London Authority group and the capital’s boroughs to unlock land for critical EV charging infrastructure.
On his visit to the LEVC factory, Khan said he was “committed to building bridges” between London and the rest of the country, while showcasing how the capital could help the UK recover from the pandemic while tackling regional inequalities.
Accompanied by the Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, Khan also visited the control room of Capita, the Coventry-based firm that provides the technology that manages London’s congestion change, low emisisons zone, and ultra-low emission zone.
Khan said Transport for London’s contracts with Capita and LEVC employed 2,200 people in the Midlands and North of England and said this demonstrated how London relied on the skills of other regions and how investment in the capital “can help create quality green jobs across the country”.
“Tackling the climate crisis and growing our economy across the UK is about regions working together and investing in new technologies,” he said. “London is ready and willing to play its part in ensuring a strong and green national recovery from this terrible pandemic.”
The Mayor’s visit to the Midlands coincides with his official submission to the government’s comprehensive spending review (CSR), which warns the Treasury that the UK’s recovery from Covid-19 will be hampered if further measures to support London’s economy are not unlocked.
Among the measures set out in the submission are are call for the government to fully fund the national and international capital city grant by £159m a year and to provide stable funding for Transport for London through multi-year investment control periods in addition to its existing funding sources, as well as long-term investment in the capital’s transport infrastructure, including funding to replace trains that are already over 50 years old.
In related news, Transport for London this week published its first sustainability report and corporate environmental plans, documents that set out how the transport authority aims to support the Mayor of London’s drive to make London ‘carbon neutral’ by 2030 and align with the Sustainable Development Goals.
The roadmaps set out the organisation’s commitment to reduce its waste and emissions, clean up air quality, protect biodiversity, habitats and ecosystem services on the TfL estate and ensure environmental considerations are embedded into all its activities and projects.
