Addison Lee and ChargePoint have unveiled their new Fleet Hub to London’s deputy mayor for transport, Seb Dance, and deputy mayor for environment and energy, Shirley Rodrigues.

Andrew Wescott, Addison Lee’s director of sustainability & regulation, and Tanya Sinclair, senior director of public policy, Europe at ChargePoint

The hub in West Drayton opened in March, featuring four ChargePoint ultra-rapid EV chargers, alongside a partnership deal that granted Addison Lee partner drivers with access to thousands of chargers across London through the ChargePoint app.

Following the installation of another eight fast chargers at the hub, the deputy mayors met with Andrew Wescott, Addison Lee’s director of sustainability & regulation, and Tanya Sinclair, senior director of public policy, Europe at ChargePoint, to discuss the firms’ latest steps to drive fleet electrification in London.

Addison Lee, which already has 1,000 EVs on its fleet, spotlighted the challenges facing EV adoption for fleets across the capital and the critical role played by government strategy and regulation in improving the experience of charging through measures such as ensuring various networks across London’s roads are fully interoperable so that drivers can quickly access EV charging in a way that works best for them.

The need for TfL and London boroughs to ensure EV drivers are provided with the right charging infrastructure in the right places was also discussed.

Addison Lee’s Andrew Wescott commented: “Charging remains the greatest barrier to EV adoption for professional drivers. It’s great to have the deputy mayor for transport and deputy mayor for environment and energy at West Drayton to demonstrate how we’re tackling this issue head on. Our partnership with ChargePoint is a direct example of the work we’ve been doing over the last 18 months to support drivers through the EV transition. While we support the Mayor’s 2030 net zero target for the city, we simply won’t achieve it without greater provision of public and private sector charging infrastructure.”

ChargePoint also drew attention to the greater need for network roaming in the transition to EVs.

Tanya Sinclair, senior director of public policy, Europe said: “If we are to enable fleets and commercial drivers to seamlessly transition to EVs, we must encourage inter network roaming at all levels. Our cooperation with Addison Lee is a key step here, making it easier for drivers to confidently locate, initiate and pay for charging, not only here in Heathrow, but throughout London and the UK using ChargePoint’s own stations and partner stations accessible via roaming. We’re pleased to demonstrate this exciting work to the two Deputy Mayors and hope to receive their support as we continue to push for electrification of transport across the capital and the rest of the UK.”