GREEN MEANS GO
‘INSUFFICIENT, INEFFICIENT AND INCONSISTENT’: ADDISON LEE SLAMS LONDON’S PUBLIC CHARGING NETWORK
Addison Lee has called for urgent investment in the public charging network after experiencing its first two weeks of using EVs in London. According to This Is Money, bosses announced in September that the com- pany will transition to a fully-electric taxi fleet by 2023, which started with the introduction of 100 zero-emission Volkswagen ID.4 SUVs in November. However, after just over a fortnight of using the plug-in vehicles, Addison Lee has provided a damning report on the public charging infrastructure in the capital. It says the network ‘shows insufficiency, inefficiency, and inconsis- tency’ that will ultimately be a ‘major barrier to successful industry-wide electrification’. Addison Lee says it will move away from combustion engine cars this year, with plans to have a fleet of 4,000 EVs. The version of VW’s all-electric SUV used by Addison Lee is the larger 77kWh model, which has a maximum range of 322 miles, takes around seven and a half hours to fully charge from an AC three-phase 11 kW charge point, though a rapid
device will take
capacity from five per cent to 80 per cent in just 38 minutes. However, drivers have reported ‘key issues’ with the charging network in the capital. According to a survey of its drivers using them, 93 per cent have not found rapid charging through the public network to be an easy process. Its employees revealed that rapid chargers are often broken or damaged (57 per cent), while over a third (37 per cent) said it takes them over 30 minutes to locate a rapid charger. It says the public network of devices will be relied upon by all private hire and taxi firms as well as normal drivers across the industry, though with just 600 rapid chargers currently in place the infrastructure is not up to scratch. TfL has estimated that London will need almost 4,000 rapid EV charging
JANUARY 2022
points by 2030, though previ- ous independent research shows that if London’s PHV and taxi fleets shift to full EVs then approximately 8,500 rapid chargers will be required. The Addison Lee report adds fuel to the calls for the nation’s charging infrastructure to receive a surge in growth. Earlier this month, the Society of Motoring Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) stated that installations of public charging points is far behind the sale of EVs, with only one device installed for every 52 EVs registered in 2021. It says early indications suggest there will be huge challenges for PH and taxi firms looking to follow in its footsteps by moving to electric fleets. Addison Lee says it is willing to share its data and learnings from its transition to help tackle the varying infrastructure challenges its drivers are facing. CEO, Liam Griffin, said: “To meet London’s 2030 net zero carbon target, every fleet in London needs to transi- tion to electric as quickly as possible. “To achieve this requires urgent invest- ment in London’s public charging network. Our experience of our EV rollout so far has highlighted the huge infrastructure challenge we face. Unless we can work together to fix this, we will never reduce carbon emissions to an acceptable level in the capital.’ Already, the nation is lagging behind the charging vehicle infrastructures being implemented around the world. In fact, Britain’s ratio of plug-in vehicles on the road to standard public chargers has deteriorated to become one of the worst among the top ten global EV markets at 16:1 in 2020. There are also significant regional disparities in the current provision of standard public charging points. London has the best ratio of cars to
chargers at 10:1 – although this in itself fell from 5:1 in 2019. Meanwhile, the East of England has the lowest availability, with just one standard public charger for every 49 plug-in vehicles. Wales beats the national average with a ratio of 12:1, while Scotland weighs in at 17:1. The Government has promised a num- ber of funds and law changes to help improve the network in recent months. It has allocated a Rapid Charging Fund of £950m for the installation of the fastest charging devices, a further £620m for ‘targeted’ zero-emission vehicle
grants and infrastructure
announced in the Net Zero Strategy, and the recent commitment that all new build homes will include an EV charging point. Yet the SMMT says this is still insuffi- cient to keep up with consumer demand for EVs and called on the government to take regulatory action to boost public charge point provision, with binding targets for delivery, com- mensurate with the targets for vehicle manufacturers to deliver products, to ensure installation rates accelerate.
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