Renewable Energy Magazine, By Toby Price: The first GE electric charge points have been installed at the Olympic Venue in London (England) to support the 2012 Games fleet. After the event, the fast charging points will become part of the capital’s Source London network, which has 307 points and 300 members, making it Source London’s biggest network in UK. Work began this month on a network of electric vehicle charge points to support the Olympic and Paralympics' electric vehicle fleet, leaving a legacy for London drivers after the Games.The Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) are working in association with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) and fellow London 2012 sustainability partners, EDF, GE and BMW, to install 120 charge points which will support a fleet of zero-emission electric vehicles set to be used during the London 2012 Games. After the sporting spectacular, the charge points will join the Source London network, already the capital's largest charging network which will number 1300 by 2013. The electric vehicle points are fast charging and will be able to fully charge a vehicle in as little as four hours. They will be initially used by one of the 160 Active E or 40 MINI E electric vehicles provided by BMW for the Games-time fleet. This charge duration is significantly less than half the normal charge time for a standard charge point. The points will be installed in five key locations in London with the first being installed today at ExCeL London Based on tests conducted at BMW’s facilities, as many as 30 vehicles will be fast charging simultaneously at a single location this summer and as a result, this will be the UK's highest density of electric charge points.“We are determined for London's Games to be the cleanest, greenest ever and encouraging electric driving to support the sporting spectacular is another way we are achieving this,” said Mayor of London Boris Johnson. 'My Source London network is currently the largest in the UK and it is now gearing up to support the Olympic and Paralympic electric vehicle fleet. This will help to deliver cleaner air during the Games and even better, will create a fantastic legacy of fast charging points for Londoners." EDF is set to monitor the usage of the Olympic electric vehicle charge points to learn lessons for the future predicted uplift by the general public of electric vehicles and public charge points. Source London currently consists of 307 charge points, making it the UK’s biggest publicly accessible charge point network. This lead is set to continue as the Mayor has made a commitment to increase the network to 1,300 points by spring 2013. Encouraging more electric vehicles is part of the Mayor’s commitment to make London an epicentre of electric vehicle Capital of Europe to deliver cleaner air and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. “We are proud to have electric vehicles in our fleet, but of course we need a charging infrastructure so it is fantastic to see our partners and stakeholders coming together to make it happen. These charge points will provide operational support during the summer, but they will also be part of a wider charging network in London long after the Games have gone,” commented Paul Deighton CEO of LOCOG. Gareth Wynn, 2012 Programme Director at EDF said: “Never before has a public electric vehicle charging network been installed in this density in the UK before. By finding a fast, effective and safe way of simultaneously charging up to 30 electric cars in the same location, we have made another significant step forward in making EVs an attractive low carbon alternative to traditional motoring. “This innovative solution to recharging will not only help keep the entire Olympic fleet of EVs charged up during Games time, but will also provide a valuable insight into how EVs could be used on a mass scale in future.” Source London charge point information is now available in the TfL Datastore. The Datastore feed will provide information regarding the location of points, their power ratings, the connection type, the type of vehicles able to access the points, whether parking charges apply and the hours that they’ll be accessible, along with other useful details. Developers are encouraged to use this feed to build applications to help get information on Source London out to more users. “I want to rapidly accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles and make London the epicentre of electric driving in Europe. Increasing numbers of motorists are opting for cleaner, greener electric transport, delivering a host of benefits to the driver including a 100 per cent Congestion Charge discount. This is set to deliver considerable environmental benefits to our city,” concluded Boris Johnson. Source: Renewable Energy Magazine
