Transport Minister Jesse Norman has announced an additional £56 million in public and industry funding for increasing electric vehicle [EV] chargepoints across the UK. The new funding aims to initially deliver up to 2,400 chargepoints, while working to support councils to deliver tens of thousands more moving forward.
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, including Hackney, Rotherham, Barnet, and York.
The government are doing this to enable more people than ever to 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 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.
This week also sees the government bringing forward a further £7 million 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.
