Local Authorities in England Awarded £185M for EV Chargers

Image: I Wei Huang / Shutterstock

Local authorities across England have been granted a total of £185 million for electric vehicle (EV) chargepoint funding.

The UK Government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund has approved payments to 44 additional councils, following the initial approval of five local authority applications in February 2024.

Additionally, authorities in tranche two of the LEVI Fund will be invited to submit applications from 2nd April to 19th July.

The Department for Transport (DfT) and the LEVI Support Body are providing ongoing support and guidance to all LEVI Fund applicants, including a new electric vehicle infrastructure (EVI) training course for local authority officers.

This funding comes as more drivers switch to fully EVs and the UK Government aims for 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans to be zero emission by 2030, rising to 100% by 2035.

Hugh Pickerill, Programme Manager for EV grants and infrastructure at Energy Saving Trust, said: “It’s great to see this latest round of funding allocated to what will be effective projects to improve EV charging infrastructure across the country.

“Having begun engagement with the local authorities applying to the next round of applications, we’re keen to start working more closely with them to assist in the development of their applications and to achieve excellence in project standard.”