Charging points for electric cars and vans

Public charging points for electric cars and vans are being installed across Croydon, as part of the borough’s commitment to greatly increase the number of public charging points by 2022, in a programme continuing to 2025 and the ending of new petrol and diesel cars being sold by 2030.

Map of existing charging points

You can see where the existing public charging points are in Croydon, and across the country, on the Zap Map website.

New charging points

Since October 2021, we have installed many new on-street charging points in Croydon's residential locations. We are working in partnership with charge point operators as part of wider schemes supported by central government grants. Over 200 of these are from Liberty Charge, through an Innovate UK grant which will see a further 600 points installed across London by the end of March 2022.

Forty of Croydon’s new charging points are funded by London’s Go Ultra Low City grant, with Transport for London, and operated by char.gy, who have installed 400 more charge points in London in the last year.

View a map of the new charging points.

Suggest a charging point

If you would like to suggest a location near your home or business in Croydon for the installation of an on-street electric vehicle charge point, please email strategictransport@croydon.gov.uk with the following information:

• Your name
• Email Address
• Home address, including postcode
• Any relevant information about where you would like an on-street charge point delivered

Please include the statements below in your email, deleting as appropriate:

• I do not have off-street parking at my property / I have off-street parking at my property
• I own a fully electric vehicle / I own a plug-in hybrid vehicle / I intend to purchase an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle
• I am a taxi or Private Hire Vehicle driver / I am not a taxi or Private Hire Vehicle driver
• I am a blue badge holder / I am not a blue badge holder

Requests cannot always be responded to individually, but all are reviewed and used to inform delivery in areas where demand is greatest.

Types of electric vehicle charging points

Charging at home or where the council has provided a bollard connected to a lamp column is typically done overnight at 3kW (or up to 5.5kW), and lower cost. Government grants are available on GOV.UK for homeowners who live in flats and people in rental accommodation with off-street parking and for businesses, charities, and public sector organisations. From April 2022 grants are no longer available to homeowners (including people with mortgages) who live in single-unit properties such as bungalows and detached, semi-detached or terraced housing.

Destination charging points, often near local shops and on busy local roads, are fast at 7kW, needing 2 to 4 hours top-up charging, or 22kW, typically used for an hour. There are eight Source London charging points 7kW chargers on Edridge Road and Tavistock Road and a 22kW charging point on Colson Road, with two sockets. The higher Source London price includes the value of a parking fee, as these charging points tend to be in more prominent locations.

When you are parked in a marked “EV only” bay on the street in Croydon you do not have to pay for parking. 

On main roads such as the Red Route network, TfL has installed rapid charging points. These 50kW chargers take 20 to 40 minutes depending on the car and level of charge. You will find them on London Road and Thornton Road in Thornton Heath, and Godstone Road in Kenley. 

For a full guide to electric vehicles and charging, visit the Energy Saving Trust. Note that you do not have to stay with your car while charging, but it does need to be plugged in otherwise you might get a parking ticket. Most of the charge point operators use an App that you can download to a smartphone. It will tell you when your car is fully charged, and most apart from Source London charge you by the kWh not the time. Your car stays connected until you disconnect it.

Public locations are chosen following requests by residents or businesses or as part of a planning application agreement and are designed to deliver a borough-wide network of charging points as well as support zero and low emission transport initiatives including improved public transport, car clubs and cycle routes and cycle parking (for secure cycle parking on your road, email cycling@croydon.gov.uk).  

"We are installing these charging points in carefully assessed locations in response to demand, as part of our promotion of the wider use of electric vehicles.

Alongside encouraging and enabling more walking and cycling, electric vehicles will make sustainable journeys across Croydon easier than ever before and are a key part of meeting the growing need and demand for green infrastructure.

We are committed to working with communities to tackle air pollution." 

- Councillor Mohammad Ali, cabinet lead for sustainable Croydon