London powers ahead in ranking of best cities for electric vehicle infrastructure | City A.M.
London has been revealed as the best city for electric vehicle (EV) charging points, beating environmentally conscious cities such as Oslo and Berlin.
Online rental company Spotahome analysed 89 global cities and found the UK capital to be the best for electric vehicle infrastructure.
In the UK, London has sailed ahead of Manchester, ranked 18th place; Edinburgh (31st) and Leeds (35th).
Internationally, its closest rival was Amsterdam, closely followed by fellow Netherlands-based city Rotterdam in third place, while it comfortably beat Oslo, despite Norway having more EV sales per capita than any other country in the world.
At the other end of the scale, cities such as Cape Town, Cairo, Sao Paulo and Seoul scored zero on the index because they lacked charging points or received low funding for EV initiatives.
Read more: The number of electric vehicles on the UK’s roads could power 300,000 homes
Melissa Lyras of Spotahome said: “While it’s heartening to see strides being taken in major world cities to cater for the growing electric vehicle market, it’s evident there’s still a lot of work to do.
“If more cities invest in EV infrastructure they will help to facilitate growth in the market, improve air quality and the ultimately, the health and wellbeing of the people living there. London is a great example of a city succeeding in those goals, alongside other European countries who dominate the top ten.”
It will come as little surprise to Londoners that their city tops the ranks. In March the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, unveiled plans to install a further 100 rapid charging points to the 2,000 standard charging points already installed in the capital.
A rapid charging point can charge a vehicle in up to half an hour, compared with seven or eight hours at the standard level.
Khan also launched a new taskforce in May to work alongside London boroughs and government to redouble efforts on installing rapid charging points across the city and reduce the use of diesel cars.
Top 10 EV cities
Highest level of electric vehicle charging points
Score
1
London, United Kingdom
10
2
Amsterdam, Netherlands
9.63
3
Rotterdam, Netherlands
8.73
4
Berlin, Germany
8.24
5
Hamburg, Germany
7.2
6
Oslo, Norway
6.82
7
New York, United States
5.51
8
Lisbon, Portugal
3.76
9
Munich, Germany
3.51
10
Barcelona, Spain
3.33
Source: Spotahome
Read more: Sadiq Khan unveils “milestone” of 100 rapid electric charging points