Funding to expand LEVI pilot and on-street charging scheme

An additional £56 million from government and industry has been released to expand the UK's charging infrastructure.

The funding will be used to grow the current Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot, expand the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) and launch the LEVI Capability Fund, which will help councils to develop in-house expertise and capability to coordinate chargepoint plans and work with private operators.

In addition to expanding three of the original LEVI pilot schemes, in Barnet, Durham and North Yorkshire, the funding will launch 16 new pilot scheme areas (see below).

In total, £22 million of government funding for the pilot areas is supported by an additional £17 million of private funding, and £2 million from public funds across local authorities.

In addition to expanding the pilot scheme, an £8 million LEVI Capability Fund which will equip local authorities with the skills and ambition to scale up their plans when it comes to their charging strategy.

The funding will help local authorities work in tandem with private business and chargepoint operators to drive the sustainable growth of local networks, building and utilising their collective knowledge and expertise to deliver the most ambitious chargepoint plans for their area.

Meanwhile, £7 million funding will go towards the the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, bringing the total funding this year to £37 million. Three thousand chargepoints have already been installed under ORCS with a further 10,000 in the pipeline.

16 new LEVI pilot scheme areas:

• Buckinghamshire
• Cumbria
• Hackney
• Harborough
• Hounslow
• Lancashire
• Norfolk
• Oxfordshire
• Rotherham
• Sunderland
• Waltham Forest
• Warwickshire
• West Midlands
• West Sussex
• West Yorkshire
• York