Yorkshire drivers will benefit from £5.3m in government and industry funding for increasing electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints.
Today’s announcement by Transport Minister Jesse Norman will lead to up to a further 290 chargepoints in the short term, while working to support four Yorkshire local authorities to deliver many more in the long term, including the City of York, North Yorkshire, Rotherham and West Yorkshire Combined Authority.
The announcement follows recent warnings from tourism chiefs that some of the country’s most popular tourist spots could grind to a halt this summer through the combined effects of restriction-free travel post-covid, rising electric vehicle sales and poor charging infrastructure in rural areas, with North Yorkshire picked out alongside hotspots such as Dorset and Cornwall.
Richard Toomer, executive director of the Tourism Alliance warned The Guardian over the weekend of “huge queues on tourist routes” unless government and industry “grip the issue.”
The new funding will expand the current Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Pilot, boost the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) and help councils in Yorkshire secure dedicated resource to develop in-house expertise and capability to coordinate chargepoint plans and work with private operators – delivering a more comprehensive and reliable network of chargepoints for drivers.
Technology and Decarbonisation Transport Minister, Jesse Norman said: “The government is giving local authorities across England additional help today to energise their chargepoint roll-out plans.
“Today’s commitment will lead to thousands of new chargers being installed, and plans for tens of thousands extra in due course, so that more people than ever can make the transition to using EVs.”
Today’s announcement is part of a total £56m in government and industry funding to increase electric vehicle chargepoints across the country.
Part of this includes the £8mm 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 will drive the sustainable growth of local networks, building and utilising their collective knowledge and expertise to deliver the most ambitious chargepoints plans for their area.
Today also sees the government bringing forward a further £7m funding for the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme, bringing the total funding this year to £37m. 3,000 chargepoints have already been installed under ORCS with a further 10,000 in the pipeline.
Several additional funding schemes are already open and available to help install chargepoints for electric vehicles with government support, including the Workplace Charging Scheme, Landlord Grant and the Private/Rental Grant.
The government has so far spent over £2 billion to support the move to zero emission vehicles, helping drive forward the decarbonisation of the UK’s entire transport system.
