Introduction

The UK’s Electric Vehicle (EV) market has grown significantly over the last few years, with over 1.6 million plug-in vehicles registered in the 2019-2024 period. [1]

To meet the rising number of EV drivers, the government has committed to installing 300,000 public chargers by 2030. [2] A £381 million investment fund (the ‘Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund’) has been established to facilitate the government’s target. [3] The LEVI Fund intends to build on the government’s pledge that all new cars sold should be zero emission by 2035 to meet its decarbonisation objectives.

Objectives and Principles of the LEVI Fund

With the overall aim to develop a scalable EV charging network, the LEVI Fund has two principal objectives:

Enhance the deployment of local, low power, on-street charging points
Commercialise and invest in local EV charging infrastructure

The LEVI Fund can be used by Tier 1 local authorities or combined authorities in England for the financial years 2023/24 (tranche 1) and 2024/25 (tranche 2). The capital allocation method used intends to tackle charging inequality across England, following two guiding principles [4].

Need: targeting areas with lower levels of residential off-street parking
Progress: enhancing EV provision in areas with less developed charging networks

Extending EV infrastructure across England is expected to bring substantial local economic development benefits. These include regeneration works, business growth or increased employment, tourism, trade, and investment, among others.

Tranche 1 and 2 Allocation Process

All interested local authorities were required to submit their expressions of interest for both tranches by May last year.

Applicants for tranche 1 funding had to send a draft tender for review by November 2023, many of which are still under evaluation. If successful, local authorities will then be entitled to 90% of their assigned funds and can open procurement for installation providers. The remaining 10% will be paid to local authorities upon approval of their commercial arrangements with private partners, to be submitted by September 2024.

The first £14.2 million of tranche 1 funding has been approved for allocation this February in Bedford, East Sussex, North Yorkshire, and the London Boroughs of Hackney and Hounslow. [5]

To date, almost 100 EV officers have been recruited to support local authorities in their charge point procurement processes. Further training on EV technology, strategy and deployments will be launched this month to facilitate the achievement of LEVI Fund goals.

However, there are concerns around the number of skilled technicians in the UK and whether these will be sufficient to reach the government’s targets.

A Way Forward

Regardless of the challenges ahead to meet Net Zero, we should not underestimate the potential of the LEVI fund for EV solution providers:

Geographical Expansion: the LEVI Fund will provide installation opportunities in more diverse locations across England
Maintenance Services: the expansion of the EV charging network will create a growing demand for charger maintenance services
Device Conversion: while the LEVI Fund is focused on low power devices, it may create future opportunities to convert devices into rapid or ultra-rapid speeds, which only account for 19% of chargers currently [6]

Contact us to find out how Deecon’s subject matter experts can support your organisation in leveraging existing procurement opportunities and navigating the complexities of the rapidly changing EV market.

Words by Anna Bellot Tomas

Edited by Anna Pringle

[1] https://www.zap-map.com/ev-stats/ev-market

[2] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6245ba40e90e075f15381cf0/taking-charge-the-electric-vehicle-infrastructure-strategy.pdf

[3] https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-local-ev-infrastructure-levi-funding

[4] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-ev-infrastructure-levi-funding-amounts/local-electric-vehicle-infrastructure-levi-funding-allocation-methodology

[5] https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/first-local-authorities-to-receive-levi-funding-for-on-street-ev-chargepoints/

[6] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/electric-vehicle-charging-device-statistics-january-2024/electric-vehicle-public-charging-infrastructure-statistics-january-2024#uk-growth-in-public-charging-devices