The Government has announced a £63 million investment package to reduce the barriers to EV ownership by increasing access to affordable charging, particularly for households without driveways and supporting fleet transitions in the public and private sectors.
£25 million of the funding will go to local authorities to help residents without off-street parking access domestic electricity tariffs by allowing safe cable connections from their homes to vehicles parked on the street. These changes could cut annual running costs by as much as £1,500 compared to petrol or diesel vehicles.
An £8 million fund has also been allocated to support the electrification of NHS vehicle fleets. Over 1,200 new chargepoint sockets will be installed across 211 sites in 62 NHS Trusts in England.
The charging infrastructure will include a mix of slow, fast, and ultra-rapid chargers to meet varied operational needs, with the goal of cutting long-term fleet costs and improving sustainability in healthcare delivery.
In addition, a new grant scheme for businesses will be introduced to help fund the installation of depot charging infrastructure for commercial vehicles. Details of this scheme, which aims to support the logistics and heavy goods vehicle sectors, will be published later this week.
This funding builds on previous government initiatives, including £400 million committed to EV infrastructure and recent updates to the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, all aimed at accelerating the UK’s transition to net zero. The UK currently has over 82,000 public chargepoints, with plans to more than double that figure through public and private investment.
As part of ongoing infrastructure improvements, EV charging hubs will soon be signposted on motorways and major roads for the first time, improving driver access on long-distance journeys.
Edmund King, AA president, said: ‘There are more public chargers than people realise, but they are often hidden in plain sight. Increasing signs for the public network is vital to help the EV transition as it will create confidence for drivers both now and in the future.
‘It is great to see more support for those without off-street parking so that they can also benefit from the EV revolution.’
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