DfT announces £56m funding boost for EV charge point installations

The announcement by transport minister Jesse Norman will help deliver up to 2,400 charge point installations in the short term, and ‘tens of thousands’ in the long term.

According to DfT, the funding will expand the existing the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot, boost the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) and help councils across England secure resources to develop in-house expertise and capability to coordinate charge point plans and work with private operators.

In addition to expanding three of the original LEVI pilot schemes in Barnet, Durham and North Yorkshire, there are 16 new pilot schemes across England.

In total, £22m of government funding for the pilot areas is supported by £17m of private funding and £2m from public funds across local authorities.

In addition to expanding the pilot scheme, the government has launched an £8m LEVI Capability Fund designed to equip local authorities with the know how to scale up their charging strategies.

The funding will help local authorities work in tandem with private business and charge point operators to drive the sustainable growth of local networks, building and utilising their collective knowledge and expertise to deliver the most ambitious charge point plans for their area.