London given £35.7m for electric charging points

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A Nissan Leaf and a Kia Soul charge on a street in Hackney, London.Image source, Getty Images
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The money has been issued by the government's Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund

London has been given £35.7m to invest in its electric vehicle charge points.

The money, issued by the Government's Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, will help expand the charging network across all 32 boroughs and the City of London.

A further £3m will help councils deliver the LEVI projects.

Sadiq Khan said: "This funding will help reach our ambition to have at the very least one electric vehicle charge point on every street where needed."

The mayor of London previously predicted 40,000 to 60,000 chargers would be needed by 2030, external in order to meet rising demand across the capital.

London has almost 13,000 charge points, making up a third of the UK's total.

The mayor, London Councils and Transport for London (TfL) will help the boroughs to install the public charge points, with a focus on areas without access to off-street parking.

Alex Williams, TfL's chief customer and strategy officer, said: "We know that with the explosion in electric vehicles many more charging sites will be needed, particularly for those without on-street parking.

"London is keeping up with demand by making public land available for infrastructure, and ensuring the charging points a world city needs are being built at pace and in significant numbers."

The capital currently has one charge point for every four registered electric vehicles in the city, compared with the national average of one charge point for every 12 vehicles.

It also has the most public rapid charge points by volume and share of any European city.