Forecourt operators have just three weeks to apply for a £10 million government fund aimed at bolstering rural England’s supply of electric vehicle chargepoints.
The programme, launched in November, is designed to enable more chargers to run off-grid or at sites with limited connections on the English strategic road network – motorways and major A roads (the other nations are responsible for their own transport policy).
The Department for Transport’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), which is promoting the scheme, hopes it will give EV drivers confidence to make long journeys, knowing there is a reliable network of charging stations.
According to the government, there were a record 86,021 EV chargers on the UK road network last year, a 23% increase on 2024. While rural parts of the country have seen the strongest growth, there are still concerns about gaps in the network in some of these areas.
It says that with technology available to allow EV chargers to operate without strong connections to the grid, or even off grid completely, the fund is designed to encourage more private operators to install them in these locations.
OZEV says solutions could include combinations of renewable energy sources such as solar and battery storage systems to avoid the need for expensive grid upgrades. It adds that the funds will be targeted at sites which are “hard-to-treat, grid-constrained where high costs or long timescales would otherwise delay chargepoint provision”.
To be considered for funding, projects must enable at least 12 EVs to access ultra-rapid charging, defined as being able to deliver around 120 to 145 miles of range in just 15 minutes for a typical EV.
Operators can apply on Innovate UK’s website ahead of the March 24 deadline.
