More electric car charging points are due to be installed across Wandsworth this autumn

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Community Editor
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More electric car charging points are due to be installed across Wandsworth this autumn

Postby Community Editor » Fri Sep 10, 2021 10:49 am

With further installation of electric car charging points, this will bring the total number up to 812 – one of the highest number of charging points in the UK.  

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An ubitricity charger

In Wandsworth the council has made it a priority to ensure residents who want to switch to electric vehicles can easily access a charging point.  

This is a key part of its efforts to improve air quality and tackle climate change and will also benefit residents ahead of the expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) from October. Electric vehicles will be exempt from the charge. 

Wandsworth currently has 594 publicly available charging points - one of the most comprehensive EV charging networks in the country. The new charging points will help Wandsworth meet its overall target of 900 public charging points.  

Most of the borough’s charging sockets have been fitted to lampposts to reduce pavement clutter and keep footpaths free for pedestrians and a further 200 of these will be installed before Christmas. The power supply for these chargers, which have been installed in partnership with Seimens and ubitricity, along with those installed by Source London, comes only from renewable sources of energy. An additional 18 on-street fast chargers from Liberty Charge are due to be installed from October. Each will have two sockets so they will serve 36 parking spaces.  

Transport spokesman Cllr John Locker said: “We know that some people need a car, and we want to ensure that we make it as easy as possible for them to switch to a greener vehicle. Lack of charging points is often cited as a barrier to EV use, so we’re doing all we can to lead the way in putting in a comprehensive local charging infrastructure.” 

Cabinet member for climate sustainability Cllr Kim Caddy said: “We have declared a climate emergency and encouraging the switch to electric vehicles is just one of the many actions we are taking to meet our pledge to become carbon neutral by 2030. This includes a wide range of measures to reduce air pollution and encourage active travel.” 

To view a map of the borough’s charging points visit zap-map.com.

For more information about owning an electric vehicle in the borough visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/driveelectric

To find out more about how the council is working to improve local air quality visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/airquality

To find out more about Wandsworth Together on Climate Change visit www.wandsworth.gov.uk/climatechange
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Emma
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Re: More electric car charging points are due to be installed across Wandsworth this autumn

Postby Emma » Mon Sep 13, 2021 9:00 am

This is great news. However please could you improve the signage too and help us to get these points fixed when they break.

On Ramsden Road and the surrounding streets we have 4 points that have been out of order for more than 4 months. This has been reported to Ubitricity numerous times, but nothing seems to happen.

There are also numerous points with skips parked in them and sometimes they are put alongside a disabled bay which instantly halves the availability.   

Those without an electric car do not notice the tiny signs on the lamp posts and many cars remain parked by the electric charging points for weeks on end. 

Consequently when needing to charge the car, we frequently have to drive for 20 to 30 minutes until we find a vacant and working point.

We would love to speak to someone at the Council about this, to see how we can move forward. It is great to put new points in, but if they continue to operate as they do currently, they will not benefit electric car owners and as electric car ownership increases, more people will struggle to charge their cars.
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EVcharger
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Re: More electric car charging points are due to be installed across Wandsworth this autumn

Postby EVcharger » Mon Sep 13, 2021 9:30 am

Emma

I agree with all of that.

Try emailing John Lockier at the council directly.

He told me in May 21 that

"I have repeated my ask to the Transport team at the town hall to address the issue of dedicating some bays on roads for EV charging. Because we are seeing volumes grow - which is great - we are getting more requests. So still very much on the agenda.
"

and I had a response from one of the officials:-

"Cllr Locker has asked me to reply to you directly."

"Regarding the trial of EV Only parking bays adjacent to lamp column chargers, XXXXX Road will be one of the streets included and we aim to implement this autumn."

So hopefully WBC will apply some common sense and a few cans of line paint to the problem.
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Emma
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Re: More electric car charging points are due to be installed across Wandsworth this autumn

Postby Emma » Mon Sep 13, 2021 9:33 am

Great news, thank you. I will email John Lockier as you suggest

The infrastructure just isn't there yet to support electric vehicles and the charging points at Motorway Service Stations are even worse!

I love our electric car, but sometimes I do miss the ease of popping to the petrol station!
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EVcharger
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Re: More electric car charging points are due to be installed across Wandsworth this autumn

Postby EVcharger » Mon Sep 13, 2021 1:14 pm

Emma

Hate to be smug but that is the Tesla advantage as they do have pretty good motorway charging infrastructure. Our car has free lifetime supercharging so you don't really bother thinking about it.

The reality is that by the time you have stopped plugged in and got a 6 & 8 year old some food and through the toilets you have charged up and are good for another 2-3 hours of driving.

However, it is getting close to being saturated at peak times at a few motorway locations due to the sheer number of Tesla vehicles coming onto the roads.
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readysteadycook
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Re: More electric car charging points are due to be installed across Wandsworth this autumn

Postby readysteadycook » Tue Sep 14, 2021 11:35 am

Be careful with what your being charged by Source London - interesting article (Feb 2021) showing the difference in cost between doing it on a home charger and with them :-

https://www.whatcar.com/news/electric-c ... ons/n21685

"We paid £40.66 for a 10-80% 150kW charge for a BMW iX3 at a Source London 7.4kW charger on its London Flexi tariff ; in comparison, charging up at home on a night-time tariff of 14 pence per kilowatt hour (kWh) would cost £7.25. So getting the best home charging setup is key to keeping EV running costs down. "
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readysteadycook
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Re: More electric car charging points are due to be installed across Wandsworth this autumn

Postby readysteadycook » Tue Sep 14, 2021 11:52 am

Emma wrote: Mon Sep 13, 2021 9:00 amThis is great news. However please could you improve the signage too and help us to get these points fixed when they break.

On Ramsden Road and the surrounding streets we have 4 points that have been out of order for more than 4 months. This has been reported to Ubitricity numerous times, but nothing seems to happen.

There are also numerous points with skips parked in them and sometimes they are put alongside a disabled bay which instantly halves the availability.   

Those without an electric car do not notice the tiny signs on the lamp posts and many cars remain parked by the electric charging points for weeks on end. 

Consequently when needing to charge the car, we frequently have to drive for 20 to 30 minutes until we find a vacant and working point.

We would love to speak to someone at the Council about this, to see how we can move forward. It is great to put new points in, but if they continue to operate as they do currently, they will not benefit electric car owners and as electric car ownership increases, more people will struggle to charge their cars.

Maybe ask the council to include faulty chargers on the Free 'love clean streets' App

Its a great app for reporting lots of things directly/quickly  to the council (eg waste & rubbish problems, graffiti, lots street problems such as potholes, paving, street lights and overgrown trees) - maybe Nappy valley might even do a post on the App ?
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Annabel (admin)
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Re: More electric car charging points are due to be installed across Wandsworth this autumn

Postby Annabel (admin) » Tue Sep 14, 2021 1:16 pm

Hi ReadySteadyCook
Will call 'lovecleanstreets' app out in the Monday email.

Thanks for sharing!


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readysteadycook
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Re: More electric car charging points are due to be installed across Wandsworth this autumn

Postby readysteadycook » Wed Sep 15, 2021 4:16 pm

thanks Annabel

One other post I would love to see is a guide for 'newbies' to how car charging works in Wandsworth (who you have to register with, what Apps to download, how much does each different company charge and at what speed of charging, general top tips)

It all seems hardwork, I am sure it not !
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Re: More electric car charging points are due to be installed across Wandsworth this autumn

Postby EVCharger » Fri Sep 17, 2021 8:35 pm

I agree DO NOT USE Source London charging it is a total rip off.

The Siemens lamppost chargers, in Wandsworth, are by contrast sensibly priced - if you can use a 5.5kW overnight charge.

I’d get the Source London pricing if they were Super Charger speed: they are not - they are just a con. As they are so over priced a lot of them are hardly used so I can see them being removed in favour of other offers.
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