London’s 2028 EV proposal could accelerate high-mileage fleet electrification

Someone plugging in their electric vehicle to be charged.

Transport for London is proposing that almost all private hire vehicles newly licensed in the capital should be fully electric from 3 July 2028.

Wheelchair-accessible vehicles would receive longer, with a proposed deadline of July 2030. TfL is also considering a 10-year vehicle age limit and changes to expired-licence rules from March 2027.

The scale makes this particularly relevant to the wider fleet market.

London currently has almost 95,000 licensed private hire vehicles, with more than 70% already zero-emission capable. Around 35.5% are fully electric.

These are also unusually high-mileage vehicles, averaging around 30,500km per year.

That means faster PHV electrification could increase demand for reliable, competitively priced rapid charging in areas where commercial drivers actually work.

For operators, replacement-cycle planning needs to start well ahead of 2028 if the proposal is adopted.

FleetWise has previously looked at how ultra-rapid charging is moving closer to urban fleet operations – exactly the infrastructure development high-mileage PHVs will increasingly depend on. Read FleetWise’s urban charging analysis

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