"1/3 of Heathrow’s pollution comes from surface transmissions, so the drive for Electric Vehicles (EV) will not solve all air pollution problems, but Electric Vehicles can help reduce inner urban air pollution" discussed Mark Calnan CEng FIMechE MIET, Director of Electric Blue at the 'How can we overcome the challenges of rolling out zero emission vehicles?' event held at the IET Savoy Place organised by the IET Central London Network.This scenario is likely to be applicable to most towns and cities throughout the UK, however with the distance that an electric vehicle can travel, Electric Blue's test case to use saloon licenses from a particular council has helped prove the sustainability benefits that an EV Taxi can have. Interestingly their proof of concept identified that the 418 principle authorities (County Councils) each have their own rules on vehicle usage, this include commercial saloon and carriage licenses. This does seem reasonable as some taxis are obliged to take on journeys up to 20 miles if starting at Heathrow.


With that in mind, those taxi's whose licenses are limited for inter-town travel, will too be looking to make as many journeys as possible, making EV's a strong solution for the reduction of inner urban air pollution. Mark discussed the values of Electric Charging, and how specifically ' Slow, Fast, Rapid and Super Rapid chargers' can be used to serve (in different combinations) most towns - this will promote efficient use of the actual charging infrastructure required to use EV's.


Speaking with Mark, I asked him if 'Open source licensing models’ would help overcome legislations on EV deployment that each principal authority has and if it might help increase the uptake of EV vehicles. He continued to discuss that, it is rather that an Open Source licensing model for the actual Charging Points might provide better incentive for users to adopt the sustainability ecosystem, as through the vehicles charging mechanism, embedded smart services can be integrated. 


Incentivising the charging stations could also help other EV's such as e-Bikes and e-Buses, and for work place charging points make it a convenient solution for individuals to benefit from, such as off-tariff charging  ( Queue Blockchain or Industry 4.0… ). Described best by Mark during the lecture as, “It's not just about the product, but more about the sustainability proposition that will win over society’s hearts and minds”.