Today, 7 September 2023, 81 local authorities across England are to be allocated a share of £381m in stage two of the UK Government’s local electric vehicle infrastructure (LEVI) fund.

The funding will support local authorities to improve the roll out and commercialisation of local electric vehicle charging infrastructure for residents who don’t have access to off-street parking.

Launched in March 2023, the LEVI fund will help to enable a transition to electric vehicles across England, as part of the UK Government’s commitment to net zero. The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) and the LEVI support body (Energy Saving Trust, PA Consulting and Cenex) are providing ongoing support and guidance to all LEVI funding applicants.

The LEVI fund for local authorities in England launched in March this year and has three stages. Local authorities have completed stage one and following 81 successful expressions of interest, the LEVI support body has now allocated capital funding, in either tranche one, 2023-24, or tranche two, 2024-25 financial years.

Today’s announcement marks stage two of the process and having been informed of their tranche funding allocation, local authorities are now completing their full application and draft tender document for the LEVI support body to review.

Once the stage two application form has been approved, 90% of funding will be released and the local authority can open procurement for EV infrastructure provider(s).

Nick Harvey, Senior Programme Manager for Transport at Energy Saving Trust said:

“The LEVI support body is pleased to be supporting local authorities across England with their local electric vehicle infrastructure proposals. These projects will deliver at scale the crucial charging infrastructure required in order to support the growing numbers of electric vehicles on our roads and to give people more confidence to go electric – a key part of the transition to net zero”.

Chris Rimmer, Infrastructure Strategy Lead at Cenex, added: “ We’re excited that the LEVI Capital Fund stage 2 has formally opened and will be working hard with our Support Body colleagues to assist Local Authorities. ”

The final 10% of funding will be delivered in stage three of the application process, involving the submission of a draft EV infrastructure contract for approval. This will include the commercial arrangement between local authorities and private sector partners.

Further information on the LEVI fund and the application process can be found at: energysavingtrust.org.uk