Electric Vehicles

Road transport is the third largest source of carbon emissions nationally and remains the main source of many local pollutants. Islington Council is committed to helping people travel in a more sustainable way and is working to reduce transport-related emissions across the borough.

Although there are a range of lower-emission vehicles available on the market, electric vehicles have a range of additional benefits:

• Electric vehicles use a battery and electric motor to power the vehicle, so they produce no vehicle exhaust or carbon emissions at the point of use.

• Electric vehicles use energy far more efficiently than a standard internal combustion engine vehicle, so even if the electricity is sourced from fossil fuel power stations, the carbon and particulate emissions remain significantly less than regular cars.

• Electric vehicles have the potential to be ‘zero-emission vehicles’ (ZEVs) if powered by renewable electricity, and create almost no noise.

Free resident’s parking permits for electric vehicle owners

Under the council’s emission-based permit charging, owners of electric vehicles receive free resident’s parking permits (band A). For more information, visit ‘Street parking - permits’ on the right. 

Electric vehicle charging points

Because many Islington residents do not have access to off-street parking where they can charge an electric vehicle, Islington Council has recently installed some of the first on-street electric vehicle charging points in the UK. This means residents who own an electric vehicle can now charge their vehicles in a growing number of locations around the borough.

Residents who wish to use the on-street electric vehicle charging points can purchase an electric vehicle charging point (EVCP) permit. The pilot scheme will cost electric car owners £17 annually (for administration, postage and packaging), plus a one-off refundable deposit of £50 for the use of a specially-designed yellow recharging cable. Electric vehicle owners will also be consulted on the possibility of setting up a pay-as-you-go system to pay for the electricity used.

How to apply: Just download the EVCP application form and payment form at the bottom of this page and send them to:

Islington Parking Services
The Parking Permits Office
PO Box 46106
London
EC1B 1BR

Alternatively, you can ring 020 7527 1338 or email parkingpermits@islington.gov.uk and ask for an application pack to be sent to you.

Finally, you can also collect an application form from the:

Green Living Centre
222 Upper Street
N1 1XR

Charging point locations

There are currently two on-street electric vehicle charging points in Islington:

• Highbury Crescent, N5 1RN - outside the Highbury Pool

• 2-4 Tufnell Park Road, N7 0QA – near Holloway Road

These and other EV charging points across London are shown on the Newride website, located on the right of the page under Useful websites.

Greening the council's fleet

Islington Council is committed to minimising vehicle emissions from our fleet. We take a comprehensive approach to reducing vehicle use, including promoting more sustainable staff travel, running a variety of alternative fuelled vehicles and piloting new vehicle technologies. Some specific initiatives include:

• Staff across the borough are able to use bicycles and electric scooters for getting around the borough

• We run a fleet of electric cars, hybrid cars and LPG vehicles, with the electric fleet powered by renewable wind energy

• Our Highways service runs an electric Modec van, which is silent and creates zero emissions

• Our entire diesel fleet has been running on UK sourced bio-diesel since 2006 and we are currently piloting a scheme using pure plant oils straight from the source on buses and refuse vehicles, which use less fuel and significantly reduce emissions

• The majority of our refuse and recycling fleet is now Euro V using Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) to significantly reduce our emissions from the heaviest polluters in the fleet, and our waste transfer vehicles are running on a combination of LNG and bio-diesel

• We train our drivers to a high standard using the Government recognised SAFED course, which aims to reduce accidents and reduce our fuel consumption figures

• A fully integrated GPRS system now helps us to reduce ‘dead mileage’ through more efficient routing