With a recent tariff fee increase by BP Pulse, a dedicated taxi charge point supplier, making costs per mile comparable with petrol, what help and support will you and TfL provide for drivers who were told significant energy fuel savings would mitigate the cost of these very expensive ZEC vehicles?

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.