London has been rated as one of the
most “electric vehicle friendly” cities in Europe ahead of the
introduction of the world’s only crash-tested and highway-certified
electric car, the TH!NK city.
Initial
distribution of the TH!NK city electric vehicle in 2009 will be
targeted to the most `EV friendly’ cities in Europe. In order to
prioritise markets, Norwegian EV manufacturer Think has developed an
EV Friendliness Index, a quantitative measure of the benefits
associated with buying and using an electric vehicle in each
market.
On the news of
Think’s commitment to bring the TH!NK city to London, UK Secretary
of State for Transport, Geoff Hoon responded by stating “I am
pleased that Think sees London as one of the most attractive markets
in Europe to roll out their electric vehicles. We want to see more
electric and other low emission cars on roads in the UK, as we move
towards a low carbon future”.
The Norwegian
capital city of Oslo ranks highest when it comes to EV incentives,
largely driven by significant purchase tax benefits, no annual road
tax, the permission for EVs to use bus and taxi lanes, access to
free inner-city parking and the exemption from all road toll fees.
London also
features prominently amongst the top five cities possessing a
variety of initiatives including no road tax costs, exemption from
the London congestion charge and free parking in many parts of the
city, particularly the West End. Moreover, the Prime Minister,
Gordon Brown and Secretary of State Hoon, recently announced a
series of funding initiatives to accelerate the development and
demonstration of low carbon transport solutions in the UK.
Announcing
Think’s EU roll-out plan, Think CEO Richard Canny commented “Due to
high demand for our vehicles and our finite production capacity in
2009 we want to make sure that we concentrate our sales on the
European cities that have the most potential - not just in terms of
sales volumes, but the cities where our customers will receive the
maximum benefit. And since EVs are a unique solution for congested
urban environments, we will take a city-by-city approach rather than
a pan-European or country-by-country approach.”
The Think EV
Friendly Index takes into account purchase incentives for electric
vehicles, their usage and practical support measures undertaken by
cities and local energy utilities to encourage EV adoption rates and
the associated environmental benefit of the TH!NK city will have in
displacing fossil-fuelled cars.
The TH!NK EV Friendliness Index
Think’s EV friendly index examines the attractiveness of cities, in
the context of buyer benefits, in three broad categories:
-
EV Purchase incentives – the available rebates, tax
incentives or other purchase incentives available at the city,
state or national government level, including reductions in
annual tax charges. This includes measures available for
individual purchasers, as well as those available for fleet and
car sharing customers.
-
EV Usage measures – includes actions which make it more
attractive to use an electric car, including:
-
Availability of free charging in both public and private
sector locations
-
Freedom from congestion charges or road use tolls
- Free
on-street and off-street parking for EV’s and preferred
parking locations
-
Ability to use bus, taxi and high-occupancy vehicle lanes on
city and surrounding area roads
-
Customer discounts on electricity
-
EV impact – includes the environmental and air
pollution benefits of using an electric vehicle, including the
use of energy from renewable sources at the city level.
Think is
encouraging cities to adopt these measures, in order to induce
buyers toward considering an electric vehicle.
The
TH!NK EV friendliness Index
|
City |
Purchase incentives |
Usage Measures |
EV Impact |
Overall Score |
|
Oslo
|
9 |
7 |
9 |
25 |
|
Tel Aviv |
5 |
6 |
9 |
20 |
|
Lisbon
|
6 |
4 |
10 |
20 |
|
Copenhagen |
9 |
3 |
7 |
19 |
|
London |
4 |
5 |
9 |
18 |
|
Paris
|
5 |
4 |
7 |
16 |
|
Madrid
|
4 |
2 |
9 |
15 |
|
Stockholm
|
3 |
5 |
7 |
15 |
|
Zurich
|
1 |
4 |
9 |
14 |
|
Amsterdam
|
5 |
3 |
5 |
13 |
|
Brussels
|
3 |
3 |
7 |
13 |
|
Rome
|
1 |
5 |
7 |
13 |
|
Vienna
|
1 |
4 |
7 |
12 |
|
Frankfurt
|
0 |
2 |
8 |
10 |
|
Athens
|
3 |
2 |
5 |
10 |
