6,814 chargepoints installed in 12 months

A quarterly report from the Department for Transport as of last month (October 2024) reveals statistics in the development on the number of grants awarded for the installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging devices in the United Kingdom.

The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) provides grants to support electric vehicles (EVs), including the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant (EVCG) and the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS). Statistics also provide information on the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) which is now closed to applications, and the Domestic Recharging Scheme (DRS) and Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS), which preceded the EVCG.

Important figures detail that the newest domestic OZEV funded grant scheme, the EVCG, has funded 13,763 charging sockets to be installed since the scheme was launched in April 2022, with 6,814 happening within twelve months following October 2023. This corresponds to approximately £10.9 million in grants. 

The EVCG provides funding towards the cost of installing EV chargepoints across the UK, having replaced the EVHS in April 2022. Landlords, car parks, flat renters and owners are all eligible to receive varying levels of funding to support the instalment of sockets to charge EVs with. Flat renters and owners, who can receive up to £350 for EV drivers, make up 50 per cent of total socket installations since April 2022 (6,896).

Moreover, the WCS has aided the installation of 57,162 sockets in workplace carparks since the start of the scheme in 2016. Not including those installed in schools, the WCS has funded 6,819 sockets in the last year, alongside 813 sockets in schools.

The WCS is a voucher-based scheme that aims to support organisations afford the upfront costs of the purchase and installation of EV chargepoints. Following a successful application, organisations receive vouchers that can be redeemed to install multiple charging devices. Since late 2016, a total of 23, 881 vouchers have been redeemed, equalling a grant value of £2.4 million.

Additionally, completed ORCS projects represent a total of 10,064 public charging devices installed across local authorities nationwide since the scheme launched in 2017. Those completed within the last 12 months ending in October 2024 account for 5,722 public charging devices. Funding has also been granted for a further 11,300 ORCS charging devices, which includes not only where devices have been installed, but projects that are yet to be finished and those scheduled to be installed in the future. 

Although no longer taking new applications, this scheme was available to all local UK authorities to partially fund installing local charging devices to ensure those without off-street parking can access reliable chargepoints for EVs. Across 156 councils, an investment of £35.1 million has been delivered across the country, with some projects still to be finished.

It is important to note that the number of ORCS-approved application in London vastly outnumber the rest of the country, and account for 42 per cent of all approved grant applications. Areas with little applications include the South West (Cornwall and Devon), North and South West Wales, the North West, and the Scottish Highlands. Areas with the most applications that are in various stages of development are London and the South East, with the North severely lacking in both applications made and complete projects in comparison. 

The next quarterly report will be released in February 2025.