Government seeks manager for £400m EV investment fund

Bidding has opened for the management of the government’s £400 million Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund — which will seek to channel funding towards projects to boost electric vehicle charging points.

The bidding process follows the launch of the Road to Zero Strategy this month which sets out the government’s long term plan to have at least half of new cars be ‘ultra-low emission’ by 2030 and all new cars and vans be ‘effectively’ zero emissions by 2040 (see airqualitynews.com story).

Funding will be used to pay for the development of new electric vehicle charging infrastructure

The fund will enable businesses to access the finances they need to build more charging points, making it easier and more viable for the public to make the switcher to cleaner, ultra-low emission cars, government says.

HM Treasury is seeking proposals from prospective fund managers, operating within the sector, to oversee the scheme. Managers will be responsible for raising the private sector fund investment of 50% or more of total capital committed and deployed.

Announcing the opening of the bidding process, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Robert Jenrick, said: “We want the UK to be a world leader when it comes to the number of electric cars on our roads. Uptake is increasing and we want the opportunity to own an electric vehicle to be available to all.

“But crucial to encouraging the take-up of these cars across the country is increasing people’s access to charging points. We want to scale up at pace and ensure interoperability for ease of use.

“This fund is a vital step in our mission to change the way we travel, create new jobs and protect our environment for future generations.

“This builds on our ambitions set out in The Road to Zero to encourage new homes to be built with charging-points.”

Related Links
Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund – Request for Proposals