Norman added that 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, in Barnet, Durham and North Yorkshire, the 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, and York.
"The government is giving local authorities across England additional help today to energise their chargepoint rollout plans," said 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, £22m of government funding for the pilot areas is supported by an additional £17m of private funding, and £2m from public funds across local authorities.
In addition to expanding the pilot scheme, today also sees the launch of the £8m LEVI Capability Fund which the government says will equip local authorities with the skills and ambition to scale up their plans when it comes to their charging strategy.
The funding is intended to 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 £7m funding for the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, bringing the total funding this year to £37m. Three thousand chargepoints 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 chargepoints for electric vehicles with government support, including the Workplace Charging Scheme, landlord grant and the private/rental grant.
The government says it has so far spent over £2bn to support the move to zero emission vehicles, helping drive forward the decarbonisation of the UK’s entire transport system.
