The Government’s announced a further £56 million in public and industry funding for increasing electric vehicle chargepoints across the country.

It says the Today’s announcement (21 February 2023) by Transport Minister Jesse Norman will help deliver up to a further 2,400 chargepoints set to be installed in the short term, while 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 3 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

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.

“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 taxpayer 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.

Today 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.

(Picture – Yay Images)