Waltham Forest to boost EV charging points

24 electric vehicle charging bays are to be installed in residential roads across the London borough of Waltham Forest, in a bid to encourage more of the borough’s residents to switch to EVs.

EV charging specialist Chargemaster is installing 7kW fast chargers, capable of fully charging a car in three to four hours, at ten locations in Chingford, Highams Park, Walthamstow and Leytonstone.

(l-r) Councillor Clyde Loakes, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for the Environment and Catherine Osborn, Senior Engineer at Waltham Forest Council, with Mark Bonnor-Moris, Chargmaster’s director of business development

Only electric vehicles that are being charged will be able to park in the marked bays beside the new charging points. Cars that are not being charged will receive a penalty notice.

Until now the borough only had public charging points available in car parks at some Tube and rail stations, Whipps Cross Hospital, the Feel Good Centre in Walthamstow and Asda in Leyton Mills.

Councillor Clyde Loakes, deputy leader and cabinet member for the environment, said: “More and more people are buying electric cars now that the technology is more reliable and the cost is more affordable – they are becoming a real alternative to petrol and diesel cars. Purely electric vehicles produce no tailpipe emissions so really support our aim to improve air pollution for everyone.

“Many electric cars can now travel over a hundred miles before needing to power up, but by making charging points available across the borough we can ensure that our residents, visitors and even delivery drivers, have confidence that they will be able to get a charge if they need to.”

POLAR

The new charge points will be on the POLAR network and users will be able to charge their vehicles through a monthly payment, or on a pay-as-you-go basis.

David Martell, chief executive of Chargemaster, who have installed and will be maintaining the points, said: “It’s great to see local authorities deploying more charging infrastructure to support a growing population of electric vehicles. With the addition of these new charging points, electric vehicle drivers in Waltham Forest, as well as those considering making the switch, will find it even easier and more convenient to own and drive an electric car.”

Installation of new charging points was among the commitments in the council’s Air Quality Action Plan, which was agreed in June, to offer ‘cleaner’ modes of transports to residents in the borough.

Last week the council released findings of a study carried out by researchers at King’s College London which suggested that measures aimed at encouraging more walking and cycling on short journeys in the borough, are likely to have had an impact on public health (see airqualitynews.com story).

The Mini-Holland scheme, which has seen changes to road layouts to prioritise walking and cycling and discourage private car use, may have helped contribute to improvements in air quality resulting in an added life expectancy of 1.5 months to children born within the borough, the research suggested.