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We drive electric ... now give us places to charge up
Elizabeth Hopkirk, Evening Standard10 Jul 2008
London needs a dramatic expansion in the number of charging points for electric vehicles if Gordon Brown's dream of scrapping petrol cars is to be fulfilled, green campaigners said today.
Westminster, the borough with the most charging points in the capital, has about 50 - a fourfold increase in four years. But there are virtually none outside central London. Environmentalists say that without more places to power up the cars, many people will not want to switch to greener models.
Speaking at the G8 meeting this week, the Prime Minister called for all new cars sold in Britain by 2020 to be electric or hybrid vehicles producing less than 100g/km of CO2. The worst-offending ones currently produce five times that.
Sales of the electric G-Wiz and petrol/ electric hybrids such as the Toyota Prius and some Lexus models have been growing. But these still represent a small percentage of all car sales.
Last year 8,788 Prius cars were sold in Britain and there are 10,940 hybrid Lexus and 950 G-Wiz models on the roads.
London Assembly Green Party member Jenny Jones said she would like to see garages offering a variety of fuels including hydrogen, biofuels and green electricity. She said: "Gordon Brown is mistaken if he thinks there's one green solution. We need more charging points but we also need to make sure they use renewable energy."
Friends of the Earth transport campaigner Richard Dyer said: "Fifty charging points is a drop in the ocean. We are going to need them outside most people's houses if we are serious about a really major shift in how people travel."
Some owners charge cars on their drive by running cables from their door, an option not open to flat-dwellers. The Energy Saving Trust offers grants for power point installation outside private homes. Famous green drivers include Jade Jagger and Jonathan Ross. Joanna Page, 30, star of BBC show Gavin And Stacey, and her husband James Thornton bought a G-Wiz two years ago to re-place their Range Rover. It gives the equivalent of 600 miles to the gallon.
Thornton, 32, an actor from Dulwich, said: "It's absolutely perfect for around town. Joanna thinks it's great because she can drive into the West End for free and park for nothing."
