Scheduled to come into force from the 1st September, and with a deadline of 31st March 2015 (or whenever the funding is exhausted), the scheme will offer 75% off the total cost of installing a home charging point and the unit itself, up to the value of £900.

It succeeds the previous £13.5m OLEV scheme, announced in February 2013, which offered a 75% discount on home installations up to the value of £1,000. This expires on the 30th June, as all grants have been allocated, but an interim arrangement is being put in place until its replacement starts in September.

Transport Minister Baroness Kramer said: ‘Uptake of plug-in vehicles is gathering pace and we want to make sure that people thinking about becoming part of this technological revolution have the confidence that they will always have somewhere to charge their car.

‘Our scheme has been tremendously popular and we are keen to continue the roll out of chargepoints to driveways and garages across the country. That is why we are launching a successor scheme today to help make this important technology as commonplace in your home as a plug for your kettle. It will also help create British jobs in the sector, while also cutting driving costs and carbon and improving air quality.’