Government announces £37m plan to improve EV recharging infrastructure
Tue 19 February 2013
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The Government has announced plans to provide 75% of the cost of installing new charge points at people's homes, on streets and at railway stations. The package of measures also includes plans to increase the numbers of rapid charge points at strategic locations to make longer journeys in electric vehicles easier.
The £37m funding package means that infrastructure grants can be claimed by:
• people installing chargepoints where they live;
• local authorities installing rapid charge points to facilitate longer journeys, or providing on-street charging on request from residents who have or have ordered plug in vehicles;
• train operators installing new charge points at railway stations.
The funding comes from the Government’s £400m commitment to increase the uptake of ultra low emission vehicles and is available until April 2015. The Government expects most of the money will be taken up by householders and local authorities.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin said: “Plug in vehicles can help the consumer by offering a good driving experience and low running costs. They can help the environment by cutting pollution. And most importantly of all, they can help the British economy by creating skilled manufacturing jobs in a market that is bound to get bigger.”
Business Minister Michael Fallon said: "The Government is supporting a range of ultra low emission vehicles. Today’s announcement will make the consumer environment for plug-in vehicles more attractive and, in turn, makes the UK a more compelling place to invest. There are huge business opportunities so we’re committed to ensuring the UK leads the way globally for low carbon vehicles."
The full package includes:
• up to £13.5m for a 75% grant for homeowners in the United Kingdom wishing to have a domestic chargepoint installed;
• an £11m fund for local authorities in England to:
- install on-street charging for residents who have or have ordered a plug in vehicle but do not have off-street parking.
- provide authorities with up to 75% of the cost of installing a chargepoint;
• provide up to 75% of the cost of installing rapid chargepoints in their areas around the strategic road network;
• up to £9m available to fund the installation of chargepoints at railway stations;
• up to £3m to support the installation of chargepoints on the Government and wider public estate by April 2015;
• a commitment to review government buying standards (mandatory for central Government departments) to lower the fleet average CO2/km of new cars and encourage the uptake of plug in vehicles in central government.
The package also includes a previously-announced £280k of funding to expand the Energy Saving Trust's Plugged-in Fleets initiative in England to help a further 100 public and private sector fleets to understand and identify where ultra low emission vehicles could work for them.
In its press release, the Government says that since 31 December 2012, over 3200 claims have been made for the Plug-in Car and Plug-in Van grants. Total claims for October to December 2012 were more than 20% higher than in the previous quarter. Claims in 2012 for the Plug-in Car grant, which has been available since January 2011, were two and a half times higher than in 2011.
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