Grants now available for EV drivers without off-street parking

As of today, EV drivers without access to off-street parking can apply for funding from the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant.

The charging solution being funded is the cross-pavement channel, whereby the charger is connected to the vehicle  by a cable embedded into the pavement. 

The grant will finance 75% of the cost of buying and installing a socket, up to a maximum of £350 and is open to owners of electric vehicles, those who have one as a company car and anyone who is leasing one for at least six months.

The property must have adequate on-street parking that is deemed ‘adequate’  meaning that parking is generally available outside the property and the road is sufficiently wide.

It is also necessary to install the cross-pavement channel before the chargepoint is installed and, as some councils are not keen to have channels dug through pavements, such permissions also need to be obtained. 

At the same time, an additional  £185 million of Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funding has been awarded to boost public EV charging infrastructure across an additional 44 councils.

Among these is Oxfordshire County Council who have been awarded £3.6m. The Council’s deputy leader, Cllr Pete Sudbury, said: ‘This funding will provide a huge boost to Oxfordshire’s growing EV charging network and build on our leadership in this field, removing one of the blocks to EV ownership. One of our top aims is to get reliable, contactless public EV charging into rural and deprived areas, ensuring that nobody will be left behind in the transition to driving electric.’

Following a successful trial run, this week also sees the full launch of the electric vehicle infrastructure training course,- a 10 week course open to all local authorities which covers topics such as technology, procurement and deployment.  The trial has already seen almost 150 dedicated EV officers placed in councils to support chargepoint planning and delivery.