Government confirms latest funding for LEVI and ORCS local public EV charging

The government has announced it is investing £381 million through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, along with £15 million for the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), to help install new chargers across the country.

The LEVI Fund supports local authorities in England to plan and deliver charge point infrastructure for residents without off-street parking.

The On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme aims to increase the availability of on-street charge points in residential streets where off-street parking is not available.

The government has also unveiled proposals for a zero-emission vehicle mandate which, from next year, will set minimum annual targets for the percentage of new car and van sales that must be zero emission.

The proposed mandate, says the government, makes the UK’s path to zero-emission vehicles the fastest in Europe.

The new measures include a credits-based trading system for vehicle manufacturers to bank credits in years when they exceed annual targets for use in future years or trade them with other manufacturers that have fallen short.

If manufacturers do not meet their yearly targets, they could face possible fines of up to £18,000 for every vehicle they miss their target by.

UK technology and decarbonisation minister Jesse Norman said, “As today’s announcement shows, the government is doing more than ever to help the UK move away from petrol and diesel and towards electric vehicles.”

Described by the government as “a robust package of measures to turbocharge the UK’s progress towards decarbonising transport,” the new funding is seemingly a cut on what was announced last year when DfT said it would provide at least a £500m from 2022 to 2025 to support local authorities to plan and deliver local public charging infrastructure, with £450m through the LEVI Fund and £50m for ORCS.

Progress on the roll out of EV charging infrastructure is just one of the many themes covered at Interchange taking place in Birminhgham on 18/19 April. Interchange is free to attend, you’ll find further details and registration details at https://www.interchange-uk.com/