IER, part of investment and industrial holding group Bolloré, will manage membership and the back-office functions from its offices in the UK, and is planning to grow the network from its current 1,400 locations to 6,000 in 2018.

Source London, a consortium of 60 public and private partners, was established in 2011 as part of the Plugged-in Places scheme and has been run by TfL since it launched. TfL will remain an active partner in the project, including supporting incentives to improve the uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles.

Nick Fairholme, TfL Director responsible for Source London, said: ‘The Mayor and TfL worked hard to ‘pump prime’ the market and establish an extensive charging infrastructure that puts London at the forefront of this green technology and ensures EV drivers are never far from a charge point wherever they are in the city. 

‘It’s now time for a private sector operator to drive the scheme forward, working under normal market conditions and clearly demonstrating electric vehicles are here to stay.’

The Bolloré Group, based in Paris, has managed the city’s Autolib electric car sharing service since December 2011, with a fleet of 2,000 Bluecars available for short-term use. The programme has 30,000 active subscribers, making 6-10,000 journeys per day.

Vincent Bolloré, President of Bolloré Group said: ‘Our group is fully committed to sustainable development and is investing heavily in all relevant technologies with the objective of becoming a worldwide leader in clean energy storage, smart grid technologies and E-mobility solutions.’