E-MOBILITY


Emission Zone (ULEZ). “Pushing through this move was not


easy,” says Seb Dance, London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport. “But we know it’s the right thing to do for our city and because the time for action is now. Our city continues to grapple with toxic air, and we know that in London road vehicles are the single biggest cause of pollution and one of the biggest contributors to carbon emissions. This is why we are putting London at the forefront of a green transport revolution by investing in our public transport system encouraging people out of their polluting vehicles and into more sustainable modes of transport. For those of us who do need to drive, we have a reliable and extensive EV charging network in place to support that transition.” According to Dance, London has


more than 80,000 public charging points, making up over a third of the UK’s entire charging network, and representing a 340% increase since 2019. A new report commissioned in November found that new electric car registrations in London are outpacing the rest of the UK, with almost a quarter of all new cars in 2022 being electric. “This is an average growth rate of 5.5% every single year, while the rest of the UK’s yearly growth rate was just 3.8% over the same period,” Dance adds. While this is good news for London,


it does raise the discussion of funding and how it is distributed throughout the UK. Naturally, large cities like London will initially receive the bulk of funding for EV solutions as they are so-called ‘low-hanging fruit’, but for a truly UK-wide transition to electric there clearly needs to be a far


London is leading the UK in its pursuit of net zero carbon emissions


wider distribution of funds to enable the adequate provision of charging infrastructure that the nation’s various geographical areas require.


ENERGY AVAILABILITY Ofgem is Great Brittain’s independent energy regulator, and is responsible for working with government, industry and consumer groups to deliver net- zero economy. “We have a duty within transport decarbonisation, through our EV strategy our objective is to support the rapid deployment of EVs along a pathway that is consistent with net zero,” says Charlotte Patch, Head of Electric Vehicle strategy at Ofgem. However, with the large increase


in EVs on the road and subsequent charging infrastructure that will need to be implemented over the next few years as adoption increases, energy supply and availability will be a key challenge. “Going off estimates that up to 15 million EVs will be on the road by 2030, and therefore around 370,000 charging points will be needed to charge these vehicles, this is a really large amount of additional electricity demand and pressure on the system,” she adds. “While we have future energy scenarios and targets for this transition, this is remains unpredictable, as it depends on government policy, industry technology developments, and the international picture of energy demand and supply.” Patch and her team have been


Innovations in EV charging on display at the 2023 London EV Show


working with the UK Government to put together the EV Smart Charging


❝Pushing


through this move was not easy. But we know it’s the right thing to do for our city and because the time for action is now


Action Plan, published in January 2023. “There are three key challenges that we need to solve to enable the EV transition. First is making smart charging the affordable, convenient choice for consumers. Second, is providing the right business landscape for EV smart charging products, and third is ensuring we have an energy system that is truly ready for EV smart charging.” Looking ahead to the future of EV


adoption, Patch says: “Looking at charging technologies, deployment of solar charging is happening. Vehicle-to- grid is the future, there is innovation happening within bidirectional charging. Ofgem wants to ensure that new technologies for EVs are smarter, not just for the drivers and owners, but for the electricity system itself. We want to create a more flexible, sustainable energy and electricity system, and EVs will be a big part of this.”


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