Electric car (EV) ownership is set continue its upward trend as the Government confirmed that UK will receive £43m in cash for plug- and EV vehicle funding.
The funding will see a flurry of charge points installed into homes, hospitals, train stations and A-roads.
Of the £43m, £11m of funding will be provided to boost the UK’s position as a world leader in low emission vehicle technology innovation. It will provide financial support to 50 organisations, ranging from small businesses to major universities, working together on 15 research and development projects.
The remaining £32 million will be broken down as follows:
- £15 million to continue the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme. The scheme helps ULEV drivers with a 75% grant of up to £700 towards installation from 13 April 2015. More details on that here
- £8 million will go towards supporting public charging infrastructure across the UK which, alongside £15 million Highways Agency funding announced in Autumn 2014, will deliver charge points on major roads and across towns and cities. Bidding for these schemes will open in May 2015.
- £9 million has been put aside to other infrastructure priorities, for example, ensuring that the UK’s world-class charge point network remains accessible and open for users.
UK EV sales are continuing to boom as many new EV models hit show rooms. Combined with increased vehicle performance and range, the UK is starting to see that electric powered vehicles and plugins are more than just a “fad” and are a viable alternative to fossil fuel powered cars.
Figures from the SMMT revealed that in January 2015 sales of electric powered and assisted vehicles increased by 6.7% compared to Jan 2014 with 164,856 vehicles registered.
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Baroness Kramer, UK Transport Minister said: “The funding announced today marks another milestone in the government’s support for ultra low emission vehicles as their popularity takes off. The public will find it even easier to charge their cars when they are out and about thanks to our £8 million commitment to support new charge points across key locations in our towns and cities. Today we have also announced another £15 million to continue the rollout of convenient home charge points across the country.”
