EV Charging infrastructure electrified

Some £56M of public and industry funding will electrify UK EV charging infrastructure.

Drivers from Cumbria to West Sussex will benefit from £56M of support to continue the expansion of electric vehicle charging across the country.

The announcement from Transport Minister Jesse Norman, will help deliver up to a further 2,400 chargepoints set to be installed in the short term, whilst 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, boost the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) and help councils across England secure dedicated resource 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, there are also 16 new pilot scheme areas.

Technology and Decarbonisation Transport Minister, Jesse Norman said: “The government is giving local authorities across England additional help today to energise their chargepoint roll-out plans.

“This 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, £22M of government funding for the pilot areas is supported by an additional £17M of private funding, and £2M from public funds across local authorities.

In addition to expanding the pilot scheme, a new £8M LEVI Capability Fund has been confirmed, 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 business 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.

The government has already spent over £2Bn to support the move to zero emission vehicles, helping drive forward the decarbonisation of the UK’s entire transport system.