First locations unveiled for electric car fast-charging hubs across London

The locations of the first five of up to 65 electric vehicle fast charging hubs to be built on TfL owned land across London have been revealed.

EV fast charging hub concept (c) TfL

Transport for London’s (TfL) property company, Places for London is now looking for a commercial partner to run the charging hubs, which will allow a car to be recharged from empty in under half an hour – although most uses tend to be shorter top-ups.

Currently, there are around 1,000 rapid or ultra-rapid charging points across the capital, of which approximately 300 have been delivered by TfL. However, TfL’s modelling predicts that London will need around 4,000 rapid charge points by 2030 if current demand continues.

Hence, the plan to use TfL property – through its Places for London subsidiary – to expand the number of fast charging hubs.

The first locations that have been identified are:

• Hanger Lane – a vacant site off the North Circular – 20 bays
• Canning Town – a roadside location off the A13 – 8 bays
• Car park next to Hatton Cross Tube station – a dedicated area within the car park – 6 bays
• Tottenham Hale – a former car park that is currently used as a worksite – 6 bays
• Hillingdon Circus – an area next to Hillingdon Tube station – 9 bays

That creates 49 charging bays – an average of about 10 ten bays per site. Along with car charging, the sites will also include retail and welfare facilities on some of the larger sites where possible.

Over time, the expectation is that the joint venture will operate up to 65 sites across London, and over a 50-year time frame, the turnover for the electricity supplier is expected to exceed £3 billion. Based on the average for the first five bays, then the joint-venture could see somewhere in the region of 600 fast charging points added to London. TfL has also recently signed contracts providing 126 fast charging bays with other providers.

That leaves some 3,300 charging points to be provided by other private providers, based on TfL’s projections of how many will be needed by 2030.

Seb Dance, London’s Deputy Mayor for Transport, said: “The wheels of change are turning on London’s streets – and they’re electric. Londoners are charging ahead with electric vehicles, registering new electric cars at a far greater rate than the rest of the UK.

“London is leading by example, with over a third of all charge points in the UK installed in our city so far. The joint venture for ultra-rapid charging hubs announced today will make it even easier and more convenient for Londoners and local businesses to switch to electric vehicles. This will help build a better London for everyone – a city that is cleaner, greener, and healthier for all.”

Places for London aims to generate long-term revenue from this scheme, which can be reinvested into the transport network. The medium-term target set that Places for London is to aim for is to grow recurring income from all its activities from £81m to £162m per year for TfL, and growth in asset value from £2.1bn to £4.0bn, to be delivered by 2034.