The Evening Standard has long reported on London’s poor air quality. Around 10,000 deaths a year in the city are attributed to our toxic air. Forty per cent of the pollution comes from diesel alone. Clean up our cars and we could save thousands of lives.
The Department of Transport has a new “road to zero” blueprint, including proposals for new houses to have electric car-chargers installed, as part of the Government plan to end petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040. But that date is too far away. The quality of our air makes it imperative we act now.
London can do better, and faster. We have already made great progress in raising the status of the pedestrian and the cyclist in the city. The bus fleet and commercial vehicles are beginning to electrify.
It is time to look at how to kick-start the electric-car revolution. Electric engines aren’t perfect — there is still the problem of particulate matter — but they are a huge improvement on the combustion engine. And it is possible to fuel them not from fossil fuels but from renewable energy.
To trigger this change we need an electric infrastructure. That isn’t there yet and eight out of 10 drivers say this is the hindrance to switching. We can make it happen. With the collective will of business, local government, City Hall and residents we can create a viable electric infrastructure by 2020. This is what the Evening Standard wants to achieve as part of our Future London campaign.
And after that there are no excuses: we can put our foot down on the gas — and aim to breathe the clean air of an electric city by 2025.
