Wednesday, October 9, 2024
Infrastructure and TechnologyLatestNews

Govt announce £56m funding for EV charging

A further 2,400 charge points are set to be installed by local authorities through an additional £56m in public and industry funding, the government has announced.

Transport minister Jesse Norman said today (21 February) that the government would deliver the charge points in the short term alongside assisting councils more long term on tens of thousands of new chargers.

The cash will expand the current Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Pilot and the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) – developing council expertise and chargepoint planning with private firms.

In addition to the three current LEVI schemes in Barnet, Durham and North Yorkshire, a further 16 areas will benefit, including:

  • Buckinghamshire
  • Cumbria
  • Hackney
  • Harborough
  • Hounslow
  • Lancashire
  • Norfolk
  • Oxfordshire
  • Rotherham
  • Sunderland
  • Waltham Forest
  • Warwickshire
  • West Midlands
  • West Sussex
  • West Yorkshire
  • York

Some £22m of government funding will be supported by an additional £17m of private investment alongside £2m from council coffers. A further £7m funding for the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme has been brought forward – bringing the total funding this year to £37 million. 3,000 chargepoints have already been installed under ORCS with a further 10,000 in the pipeline. An £8m LEVI Capability Fund has also been launched to help local authorities with scaling up of charging strategies and working with chargepoint operators and businesses on the sustainable growth of local networks.

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.”

Image courtesy of Shutterstock

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