Energy giants call for London-wide electric car charge-points

Electricity producers EDF want to see London-wide charging points for electric cars after a successful trial in Westminster.

EDF’s head of innovation and partnerships, Peter Thorn, said that the company believes that London’s electric car market is likely to see significant growth, following the release of new cars from Smart and Toyota.

Thorn added that EDF wants to install the infrastructure as quickly as possible, so that the capital is ready when the market takes off.

Last year the company teamed up with Elektromotive, an electric car charger manufacturer, to provide 250 electric car charge points across the UK by the end of March this year.

Speaking at the Ecobuild exhibition this week, Thorn admitted: “The usage levels in Westminster were quite low, especially in Southampton Street. But customer satisfaction was very high.”

Thorn added that demand for on-street charging will increase as electric cars rise in popularity because manufacturers such as Toyota are building more attractive models.

“The reason we need to do it is that it won’t be very long before the plug-in Prius arrives and that will really change things. That is when it will become a very acceptable form of transport.

“We want to get the infrastructure in as quickly as possible to help and encourage it if we can.”

He concluded: “There’s absolutely no doubt about the benefits of electricity car usage as far as carbon is concerned.”