- New grants for state-funded schools, nurseries and more to help with EV chargepoint costs
- New proposals to ensure chargepoints can be installed even faster
- Five more local authorities, including North Yorkshire, set to receive funding for local chargepoints
- Measures delivered as part of the Plan for Drivers – making it easier for drivers to make the switch
I am delighted that new measures to support electric vehicle drivers from the Government’s Plan for Drivers have launched this week, including grants for schools, cash for North Yorkshire and new proposals to boost chargepoint numbers.
Technology and Decarbonisation Minister Anthony Browne will launch support for greener schools today, with a new grant providing up to 75% of the cost to buy and install chargepoints, up to £2,500 per socket, up from the previous £350.
Paid for by the Department for Transport, the grant forms part of the Workplace Charging Scheme and is available for state-funded schools, colleges, nurseries and academies to boost the chargepoint facilities for staff and visitors. This could also help schools to generate revenue by making their chargepoints available to the public.
The schools grant is for state-funded schools and education institutions which must have dedicated off-street parking facilities – applications can be made online. Independent schools may apply for funding through the Workplace Charging Scheme and electric vehicle infrastructure grant for SMEs.
The Government is also delivering the £381 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund to local authorities across the country. The first capital payments for charging projects have been approved to three local authorities from East Sussex to North Yorkshire, and two London Boroughs, bringing the total funding for these areas to more than £14.2m.
North Yorkshire specifically has been awarded £5,375,000 which could support the installation of hundreds of new chargers, ensuring the rollout continues at pace to support drivers the increasing number of EV drivers in North Yorkshire and those looking to make the switch.
Through the LEVI Capability funding, almost 100 dedicated EV officers have been newly recruited to support chargepoint procurement. To aid local authorities in building a skilled workforce and delivering their charging projects, the Government is also launching the electric vehicle infrastructure (EVI) training course for their officers, which will open to all local authorities from mid-March following a successful trial.
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. The number of plug-in vehicles in the UK has also risen to over 1.2 million, of which 770,000 are fully battery-electric, meaning more and more drivers are making the switch.
As this number continues to grow, Government is investing alongside industry in EV infrastructure and ensure we meet our climate change commitments, whilst charting the fairest path to net zero which doesn’t unnecessarily burden families.
New laws recently came into force to provide EV drivers with easier and more reliable public charging, mandating that prices across chargepoints are transparent, easy to compare and that a large proportion of new public chargepoints have contactless payment options. This comes as over 53,000 public chargepoints have been installed across the UK, demonstrating the progress that has been made in the switch to electric.
In addition, the Government is today launching a consultation to look at ways to speed up chargepoint installation across the country. The proposals would give EV chargepoint operators the right to carry out street works using a permit rather than a licence.
Permits can be issued much faster, taking days instead of months, and are significantly cheaper to obtain than licences, reducing costs for operators and speeding up the chargepoint rollout for drivers.
While the consultation runs, a new good practice guide has been published by the Government to improve consistency in processing licence applications across different areas.
These are the second package of measures delivered from the Government’s Plan for Drivers, and follow last month’s announcement of a crackdown on disruptive roadworks and better digital information to boost sat-nav accuracy.
To further deliver on the Plan for Drivers commitments, we have published a list of common questions and answers on the transition to EVs, including battery range and chargepoint availability across the country.
To provide further flexibility to individuals and organisations wishing to install EV charging outlets, we will shortly consult on removing the 2-metre limitation so that wall-mounted outlets and upstands can be installed anywhere within an area lawfully used for off-street parking.
These measures come following the UK’s world-leading path to reaching zero emission vehicles by 2035 coming into effect earlier this year. The zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate requires 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Great Britain to be zero emission by 2030, providing certainty to consumers and industry – helping speed up the rollout of chargepoints.
The Government’s approach to EVs has already attracted record investment in gigafactories and EV manufacturing, including Nissan’s recent investment of over £3 billion to develop 2 new electric vehicles at their Sunderland plant; Tata’s investment of over £4 billion in a new 40 GWh gigafactory; BMW’s investment of £600 million to build next-generation MINI EVs in Oxford; Ford’s investment of £380 million in Halewood to make Electric Drive Units; and Stellantis’ £100 million investment in Ellesmere Port for EV van production. Last year, the UK and EU agreed to extend trade rules on electric vehicles, saving manufacturers and consumers up to £4.3 billion in additional costs and providing long-term certainty for industry.
In addition, the On-street residential chargepoint scheme (ORCS) is open to all UK local authorities. Grants are also available to help businesses make the transition through the government’s Workplace charging scheme (WCS), as well as people in flats and rented accommodation through the Electric vehicle chargepoint grant.
