The UK government has unveiled grants for schools to accelerate the rollout of electric vehicle charge points as part of its ‘Plan for Drivers’ scheme.
Paid for by the Department for Transport, the grants will provide up to 75% of the cost to buy and install charge points, amounting to up to £2,500 per socket, which is a significant increase from the previous £350 that was offered.
The grants form part of the Workplace Charging Scheme and are available for state-funded schools, colleges, nurseries and academies that have dedicated off-street parking facilities to boost EV charge point facilities for staff and visitors.
This latest Plan for Drivers measure also allows schools to generate revenue by making their charge points publicly available.
Minister for the school system and student finance Baroness Barran said: “This is an exciting opportunity for schools across England to become part of an ongoing move towards a greener public sector”.
“Schools engaging with this grant will be supporting the development of green infrastructure, helping to improve their local environments.”
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The government is also delivering the £381million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund to local authorities across the country, which will support the continued installation of thousands of new chargers across every area of the country.
In turn, almost 100 dedicated EV officers have been recruited to support charge point procurement and will have access to the newly launched electric vehicle infrastructure (EVI) training course, which will open to all local authorities from mid-March following a successful trial.
Technology and decarbonisation minister Anthony Browne, said: “This government has already spent over £2billion to ensure a smooth switch to EVs, and we’re committed to supporting drivers as we transition towards net zero in a proportionate way that doesn’t burden working people.”
The government is also launching a consultation to find ways to accelerate charge point installation across the country and plans to give EV charge point operators the right to carry out street works using a permit rather than a licence, as permits can be issued faster and at a lower cost.
