Impact of Public Charging Infrastructure on the Adoption of Electric Vehicles in London

The discussion on the importance of public charging infrastructure is usually framed around the ‘chicken-egg’ challenge of consumers feeling reluctant to purchase without the necessary infrastructure and policy makers reluctant to invest in the infrastructure without the demand. However, public charging infrastructure may be more crucial to EV adoption than previously thought. Historically, access to residential charging was thought to be a major factor in potential for growth in the EV market as it offered a guaranteed place for a vehicle to be charged. However, these conclusions were reached through studies conducted in regions with a high percentage of homes that have access to residential parking. The purpose of this study is to understand how the built environment may encourage uptake of EVs by seeking a correlation between EV ownership and public charging points in an urban and densely populated city such as London. Using a statistical approach with data from the Department for Transport and Zap Map, a statistically significant correlation was found between the total (slow, fast and rapid) number of public charging points and number of EV registrations per borough—with the strongest correlation found between EV registrations and rapid chargers. This research does not explicitly prove that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between public charging points EVs but challenges some of the previous literature which indicates that public charging infrastructure is not as important as home charging. The study also supports the notion that the built environment can influence human behaviour

Exploring the market for Compressed Natural Gas light commercial vehicles in the United Kingdom

This paper examines the potential market for natural gas as a transportation fuel in the light commercial vehicle sector in the United Kingdom. In order to understand this market and identify barriers to growth and possible solutions interviews were conducted with a number of professionals with experience in this market. These interviews were open and exploratory enabling the application of grounded theory techniques in analysis. Clear priorities for potential users were cost and carbon reduction and the main constraint a lack of refuelling infrastructure. Small scale and low cost policy interventions were identified, at national level including maintaining tax differentials; easing payload restrictions; and limited support for refuelling facilities alongside local policy initiatives, for example, restoring the exemption from the London Congestion Charge for gas vehicles, that could help to kick-start the market at least at a niche level