TfL has done ‘EVERYTHING POSSIBLE’ to provide fairly priced taxi chargepoints says Mayor of London
Updated: Oct 5, 2022
Transport for London (TfL) has done ‘everything possible’ to provide ‘fair and reasonable’ priced electric energy to taxi drivers, said the Mayor of London
Taxi drivers and fleet owners in the capital have invested well over £300million since January 2018. That investment has delivered 6,193 electric taxis in London to date according to TfL figures published.
Despite a turbulent few years which has seen a global pandemic, war in Russia and now an economic crisis, cabbies have dug deep to help the Mayor of London deliver on his clean air strategy.
The price of a London taxi costs upwards of £55,000, which is around £10,000 more than its diesel predecessor. Drivers making the shift were however lured in by the big fuel savings made using the electric fuel option.
Those fuel savings have been eroded by the rapid rise in energy for both those that charge at home and those that rely on public chargepoints. Taxi drivers using public chargepoints have also had to contend with the controversial introduction of VAT.
According to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, TfL DID NOT set cost caps with suppliers for its existing rapid chargepoints, including those dedicated to electric taxis.
London Assembly Member (AM) Keith Prince asked the Mayor of London what help and support he and TfL would provide for drivers who were told significant energy fuel savings would mitigate the cost of these ‘very expensive ZEC vehicles’.
The Conservative AM also highlighted a recent tariff fee increase by bp Pulse who are one of the larger dedicated taxi chargepoint suppliers in the capital.
Sadiq Khan responded: “Transport for London (TfL) introduced zero emission capable (ZEC) licensing requirements for taxis in January 2018 to help tackle London’s toxic air. The diesel taxi fleet has been a significant contributor to poor air quality, particularly in central London.
“Taxi drivers have had financial support to switch to cleaner taxis with taxi delicensing payments of up to £10,000 per vehicle, in addition to grants of up to £7,500 for new ZEC taxis. The costs of using public rapid charging infrastructure have increased in line with increases in the costs of electricity. Many taxi drivers charge their vehicles at home. and while domestic rates are also rising, they are still proportionately cheaper, allowing taxi drivers to continue benefiting from lower running costs.
“TfL did not set cost caps with suppliers for its existing rapid charge points, including those dedicated to electric taxis, as these are operated on a commercial basis via TfL’s procurement framework. However, TfL has done everything possible through this framework to make sure fair and reasonable pricing is applied. bp Pulse’s current tariff price is between 52p and 65p per kWh for its 50kW rapid charge points, which is broadly equivalent to other charge point operators.”
