Under new management, the Source London charging network is going from strength to strength. Blue Point London took over the running of the EV charging infrastructure in September 2014 and has systematically gone about improving the service available – though it still has obstacles to overcome.
As reported in Greenfleet Magazine Issue 88, Blue Point London – owned by French firm Bolloré Group – inheritated a fragmented system where each London borough had individual contracts with the Source London network. This has not only slowed down investment in the charging network, but also held up repairs and improvement to the existing points.
Source London has renegotiated a number of contracts already though, giving Blue Point the responisiblity to look after sites within the boroughs. Sutton, Southwark, Kensington and Chelsea, Hackney, Lewisham, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Greenwich have all handed over maintenance and expansion of charging points to the network, with more to come.
This has already allowed an increase in reliability from 65 to 85 per cent for Source London points in a little over a year, after £10 million has been invested in repairs and upgrades. The company has also committed a further £100 million to improve the network. Plans exist to have 1,000 charging points by the end of the year with 95 per cent reliability across the network.
Further down the line, Blue Point plans to have 6,000 points across London by 2018 with reliability at 98-99 per cent. With this in mind, payment systems will have to change in the future – with Source London membership currently £5 per year for unlimited use. However, Source London stated that the increasing charges will not get extortionate and that the company is in the game for the long term, rather than aiming to make a quick profit.
For further information, including Blue Point’s plans to set up an EV car sharing club in the city, you can read Greenfleet’s article here.
