Hackney helping lead the electric vehicle charge
One of the country’s biggest expansions of electric vehicle (EV) charging points has taken a step closer after Hackney Council agreed to award contracts that will see 3,000 chargers on the borough’s streets by 2030.
Last night’s (Monday) Cabinet Procurement and Insourcing Committee backed the plans to enter into 15 year contracts through the Council’s energy services arm, Hackney Light and Power, with two companies to provide a range of slow, fast and rapid EV charging points across the borough.
The move will see the current total of Council owned 303 charging points increased to 3,000 in the next eight years.
There are currently 42,000 registered vehicles in Hackney with 1,170 (2.7%) being plug-in EV vehicles. It is estimated that by 2030 around 20 percent of all vehicles in the UK will be battery electric.
However, the Council has ambitious plans to encourage a 90% take up of electric vehicles in Hackney by 2030 - which supports its aims to become a net zero carbon borough by 2040.
One of the biggest challenges to encouraging people to switch to an EV is the concern about the lack of charging points. Through these contracts the Council is seeking to have at least one charging point per estate.
While EVs still contribute to particulate matter pollution through tyre wear, their uptake will help to reduce tailpipe emissions like nitrogen dioxide across the borough, helping to tackle London’s air quality crisis.
The charging stations will be powered by 100% renewable electricity, which will in some cases be locally generated. It is also estimated that over the life of the contracts the chargers will raise more than £9million in income for the Council.
We are committed to doing all we can to provide the infrastructure and environment to help encourage people to make greener and more sustainable choices about how they travel across Hackney.
This major rollout of EV charging points is just part of this. Transport accounts for 125 kilotonnes of Co2 emissions each year in Hackney, the second biggest borough contributor to climate change, after domestic energy use.
These new charging points will help reduce the concerns some people have about switching to an electric vehicle. In turn this will benefit all of our residents as it will help enhance the borough’s air quality
While encouraging more people to switch to an electric vehicle, if we are going to make Hackney an even better place to live and work we also must continue looking at schemes to drive an overall reduction in vehicle ownership. This is where initiatives such as School Streets and low traffic neighbourhoods - supporting us all to walk, cycle and use public transport locally - play a key role.
The Council will be consulting with residents and partners on where to place the new charging points this year with work to install them expected to start in 2023.
Last night’s meeting also heard that the Council will be developing a strategy for electrifying its entire fleet of vehicles over the coming years.
Find out more about the Council’s work to rebuild a greener Hackney at hackney.gov.uk/rebuilding-a-greener-hackney