The acceleration of public charging device installations under the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) is helping boost the electric car revolution, according to figures from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV).

On-street charging boosts electric drive as demand for charging grants gathers pace

Of the 1,459 public charging devices installed since the scheme started in 2017, 778 devices were installed in the last three months across 49 councils (up to 1 July). A further 88 councils have been awarded grant funding to provide 3,282 charge points under the ORCS.

The awarding of electric car home charging grants has also shot up by nearly 40% since July 2020 says the OZEV.

Almost 44,700 grants for home charging devices were made in the last 12 months, worth nearly £15.75m. This represents a quarter of the value of grants since the government launched the scheme in 2014.

Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) grants provide 75% of the cost of installing electric vehicle charging devices at domestic properties in the UK.

The South-East leads the UK for the highest percentage of devices under the EVHS – 840 grants per 100,000 homes, nearly 31,000 devices. However, the grant take-up is not evenly spread, with Northern Ireland lagging behind with just 364 per 100,000, and just over 2,700 devices.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in November last year that wholly powered petrol and diesel cars will no longer be sold in the UK from 2030 as part of the ‘green industrial revolution’ to tackle climate change. Johnson says the government plans to ‘invest more than £2.8 billion in electric vehicles, lacing the land with charging points’.