FTA joins London EV taskforce

London mayor Sadiq Khan has assembled an electric vehicle infrastructure taskforce to increase electric vehicle charging infrastructure in London and the FTA is first in line to offer support.

The project aims to electric vehicle use to reduce emissions in the city, creating cleaner air for London’s residents and businesses. However, “introduction of a resilient recharging network is key to the success of the project,” said FTA’s head of urban policy Natalie Chapman.

The FTA outlined that the new network must have capacity for rapid or overnight charging for fleets and be able to recharge large numbers of vehicles simultaneously.

Likewise, project funding must be sought elsewhere rather than logistics businesses which are already having to invest in fleets of costly electric vehicles demands the FTA. “Grants and funding need to be made available to enable logistics operators to upgrade their vans to EVs and install the requisite charging points in their business locations,” said Chapman.