Drivers in the UK are set to benefit from an additional £56 million in public and industry funding for increasing electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints across the country. This will benefit drivers from Cumbria to West Sussex with the additional funding being used to support the expansion of electric vehicle charging across the UK.
Today’s announcement by Transport Minister Jesse Norman will help deliver up to a further 2,400 chargepoints set to be installed in the short term. Plus, working to support local councils to deliver tens of thousands more in the long term.
The funding will expand the current Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot and boost the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS). This will help councils across England secure dedicated resources to develop in-house expertise and capability to coordinate chargepoint plans and work with private operators – delivering a more comprehensive and reliable network of chargepoints for drivers.
In addition to expanding three of the original LEVI pilot schemes, in Barnet, Durham and North Yorkshire, today’s announcement will launch 16 new pilot scheme areas:
- Buckinghamshire
- Cumbria
- Hackney
- Harborough
- Hounslow
- Lancashire
- Norfolk
- Oxfordshire
- Rotherham
- Sunderland
- Waltham Forest
- Warwickshire
- West Midlands
- West Sussex
- West Yorkshire
- York
Jesse Norman, Technology and Decarbonisation Transport Minister, said: “The government is giving local authorities across England additional help today to energise their chargepoint roll-out plans.
“Today’s commitment will lead to thousands of new chargers being installed, and plans for tens of thousands extra in due course, so that more people than ever can make the transition to using EVs.”
In total, £22 million of government funding for the pilot areas is supported by an additional £17 million of private funding and £2 million from public funds across local authorities.
In addition to expanding the pilot scheme, today also sees the launch of the £8 million LEVI Capability Fund which will equip local authorities with the skills and ambition to scale up their plans when it comes to their charging strategy.
The funding will help local authorities work in tandem with private businesses and chargepoint operators to drive the sustainable growth of local networks, building and utilising their collective knowledge and expertise to deliver the most ambitious chargepoint plans for their area.
Today also sees the government bringing forward a further £7 million in funding for the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, bringing the total funding this year to £37 million. Three thousand chargepoints have already been installed under ORCS with a further 10,000 in the pipeline.
Several additional funding schemes are already open and available to help install chargepoints for electric vehicles with government support, including the Workplace Charging Scheme, landlord grant and the private/rental grant.
The government has already spent over £2 billion to support the move to zero emission vehicles, helping drive forward the decarbonisation of the UK’s entire transport system.
