British Transport Minister Jesse Norman has announced a £56 million expansion of charging infrastructure. The funding will help to add 2,400 charge points across the country in the short term, with sixteen local authorities joining the effort for the first time.
It is also intended to support local councils to deliver tens of thousands more charge points in the long term.
Indeed, the funding will expand the current Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot, boost the existing On-Street Residential Charge point Scheme (ORCS) and help councils across England secure dedicated resource to develop in-house expertise and capability to coordinate charge point plans and work with private operators.
In addition to expanding three of the original LEVI pilot schemes, there are also 16 new pilot scheme areas.
The announcement sees public and private funding going to areas across the country, with £200,000 to Buckinghamshire, £1.9 million to Cumbria, £1 million to Hackney, £2.3 million to Harborough, £1.8 million to Hounslow, £600,000 to Lancashire, £1.6 million to Norfolk, and £1.6 million to Oxfordshire,
It also sees £1.6 million to Rotherham, £800,000 to Sunderland, £2.5 million to Waltham Forest, £1 million to Warwickshire, £8.5 million to West Midlands, £2.9 million to West Sussex, £3 million to West Yorkshire, and £1.9 million to York. The three pilot schemes to expand are Durham, Barnet and North Yorkshire.
“The government is giving local authorities across England additional help today to energise their charge point roll-out plans,” said Technology and Decarbonisation Transport Minister, Jesse Norman.
“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.
The funding expands the current LEVI pilot and boosts the On-Street Residential Charge point Scheme.
In addition to expanding the pilot scheme, the announcement also sees the launch of the £8 million LEVI Capability Fund, which aims to equip local authorities with the skills and ambition to scale up their plans when it comes to their EV charging strategy.
The funding will help local authorities work in tandem with private business and charge point operators to drive the sustainable growth of local networks, building and utilising their collective knowledge and expertise to deliver the most ambitious charge point plans for their area.
The government is also bringing forward a further £7 million funding for the existing On-Street Residential Charge point Scheme, bringing the total funding this year to £37 million. Three thousand charge points 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 charge points for electric vehicles with government support, including the Workplace Charging Scheme, landlord grant and the private/rental grant.
