Charging electric vehicles is set to get even easier thanks to hundreds of millions of funding made available for local UK authorities, homeowners and renters today.
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The government continues to deliver its £381 million Local Electric Vehicle (LEVI) fund to councils, which can choose where is best to install chargepoints in their local area.
Following the approval of the first five local authority applications in February, payments to 44 additional councils from Torbay to Tees Valley, worth over £185 million, have now been approved to help residents charge their vehicles.
The funding will support the delivery of thousands of chargepoints across England, helping more drivers get from A to B easily and supporting families in making the switch.
Additionally, the local authorities that have already been allocated to the second round of LEVI funding will be able to apply to the fund from 2 April 2024, following those who have received funding in the first round and in a further boost to the chargepoint rollout.
To further support electric vehicle (EV) drivers and families looking to switch to electric, the government is ensuring households without driveways or dedicated parking spaces can access the electric vehicle chargepoint grant.
The £350 grant will be widened to those who own or rent and have access to adequate street parking.
The funding will drive down the cost of EV ownership by providing up to 75% off the cost of purchasing and installing a chargepoint, and applicants must also have permission from their council to install a cross-pavement charging solution.
Applications can be made online.
To help councils deliver EV infrastructure, the government-funded electric vehicle infrastructure training course will launch in full this week following a successful trial.
The course is open to all local authorities and will cover key topics from technology to procurement. LEVI funding has already helped to place almost 150 dedicated EV officers in councils to support chargepoint planning and delivery.
More and more drivers are making the switch to electric vehicles, with fully electric vehicles accounting for over 16% of the new UK car market in 2023, according to industry statistics.
Government and industry are working to install chargepoints at speed, with 56,983 public chargepoints now installed across the UK – a 47% increase compared to this time last year. ■