Hackney Council is launching its first back-to-base electric vehicle (EV) car clubs, as it reaches a new 300 charger milestone in its rollout of EV charging infrastructure.
The new shareable EVs will have designated charging bays in Stoke Newington, on Londesborough Road and Defoe Road. This adds to the existing 16 EVs currently available to Zipcar members. It also comes alongside news that the Council has now met its 2025 target of ensuring all residents are within 500m of an EV charger.
With around 70% of Hackney residents not owning a car, the car clubs aim to further reduce private car ownership and provide more equitable access to cars and vans for when people need to use motorised travel. By removing the upfront cost of purchasing a vehicle, the new electric car clubs expand the ability for residents to participate in the transition to electrified travel.
The Council has also worked with Allego and Siemens to deliver 200 new EV chargers in the last six months. The new chargers include 24 new dual-socket fast chargers – which provide up to 22 kW of power and have the ability to charge cars and vans in around two to four hours – and 180 lamp column chargers that are perfect for overnight charging. The car club cars will be charged using 7kW chargers provided by Agile streets, which also provides publicly available smart charging in Hackney.
In addition, the Council is currently assessing bids from private sector partners to help deliver up to 2,000 new charge points in the borough by 2030.
“Providing equal access to affordable electric vehicle charging across Hackney is a key part of our plan to rebuild a greener Hackney. Our vision is for the borough to be: greener, with more trees and wildlife; healthier, with more of us walking, cycling and taking public transport; and, cleaner, with better air quality,” said Cllr Mete Coban MBE, Cabinet Member for Energy, Waste, Transport and Public Realm.
“With the new car club and 300 new charging points, we are turbocharging Hackney for the electric vehicle transition, giving residents access to charging infrastructure that could save them hundreds of pounds every year. We are continuing to take the lead in rolling out electric vehicle charge points, with the outcome of an ambitious procurement programme for 2,000 on-street chargers set to be announced later this year.”
The new EV car club bays have been implemented as part of local improvements that have been part-funded by the Mayor of London’s Air Quality Fund. The scheme is part of the Go Ultra Low City Scheme (GULCS), a joint initiative between Transport for London (TfL), the Greater London Authority (GLA) and London Councils to install on-street EV charging points across the capital.
The news from Hackney comes after the borough of Sutton announced last week that it is installing 113 new electric vehicle charging points. The move sees Sutton Council teaming up with Siemens and its partner ubitricity to provide charging points that use electricity from existing lamppost columns.
