2024 Guide to Electric Vehicle Charging Grants & Incentives

Support for Landlords

EV chargepoint grant

This grant started in April 2022, replacing the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, and is open until 31 March 2025.  

The grant gives financial support to landlords who are considering buying and installing EV charge points at residential or commercial properties in the UK. The grant can be used across a number of properties or for just one property.  

Landlords can receive:  

• up to 75% of the cost towards the purchase and installation of a charge point socket, limited to £350 per grant.  
• up to 200 grants a year for residential properties  
• a further 100 for commercial properties.  

Additionally, local authorities that own social housing can apply to the EV chargepoint grant for landlords, offering up to £350 towards the cost of purchasing and installing a chargepoint. 200 grants per local authority are available annually.  

If you are living in a rented or leased flat, you can also benefit from an EV charge point grant that offers help towards the cost of installing an EV charge point socket at your property. EV drivers can receive up to 75% off the cost of purchasing and installing a charge point.  

EV infrastructure grant

This grant offers landlords money off the building and installation costs associated with installing multiple charge point sockets, such as wiring and posts. 

Landlords can receive: 

• Up to £30,000 or 75% off the cost of the work. The amount the landlord is eligible for will depend on how many parking spaces the work covers. 
• Up to 30 infrastructure grants per financial year. 

Eligibility 

Full details of who can apply for the chargepoint and infrastructure grants for landlords can be found on the government website. 

Example business case 

This grant is perfect for a landlord of a multi-residential complex with private communal (unallocated) parking bays. Installing EV infrastructure now, while there is funding available, helps to address the growing demand for charging and keeps the property attractive to potential renters. 

Commercial landlords can also benefit. For example, if you own and rent out commercial units to businesses, having the property equipped with EV charge points attracts environmentally conscious organisations who have an e-fleet or want to encourage their employees to make the switch. 

Support for Local Authorities

The On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS)

The government has been clear on the role local authorities have to play in enabling the transition to electric vehicles in their areas, by ‘proactively supporting and delivering the rollout of electric vehicle chargepoints’ and ‘helping to ensure the transition is integrated into wider local transport and community needs.’  

To ensure necessary provision of EV charging infrastructure for residents without private parking, the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) offers funding for the capital costs of installing public charging infrastructure – both on-street and in local authority-owned residential car parks – to support these residents. 

Open for applications from local authorities, the scheme is run by The Energy Saving Trust on behalf of OZEV and offers funding for 60% of the capital costs involved in procuring and installing on-street electric car charge points and dedicated parking bays, up to a value of £7,500 (and up to £13,000 in the instance, electrical connection costs are exceptionally high). Local authorities who are considering EV strategies can claim for funding for the purchase of an electric charging unit, related electrical component costs, DNO connection, any related civil engineering works, as well as the labour and hardware costs of installation, and the capital costs of a parking bay and traffic regulation orders.  

• The Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) programme 

 In September 2023, the government announced that the ZEBRA 2 programme would provide up to £129 million in funding for local transport authorities in England (outside of London) to support the introduction of more zero emission buses and the associated infrastructure.  

The first ZEBRA allocation (ZEBRA 1) covered the financial years 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023. ZEBRA 2 expands on the success its predecessor and supports the adoption of zero emission bus technology and supporting infrastructure, focusing on:  

• Increasing the number of local transport authorities that introduce zero emission buses 
• Spreading the investment of zero emission buses 
• Supporting the long-term goal of transitioning the entire bus fleet. 

The ZEBRA 2 programme will provide funding of up to £142.8 million, supporting up to 955 more zero emission buses and infrastructure across 25 local transport areas. Check out whether your local authority has been selected here. 

Support for Fleets

EV infrastructure grant for staff and fleets

Launched in April 2022, the EV infrastructure grant for staff and fleets is aimed at small and medium-sized businesses who want to install EV charge points on their properties, either straight away or in the future. It has been designed to help businesses plan for the demand of low-emission vehicles.  This is ideal for last mile fleet electrification progression.   

Eligibility   

You can apply for the electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure grant if you’re a business with 249 employees or fewer. More information regarding who can apply can be found on the government website. 

Example business case  

This grant is perfect for SMEs that have private parking on their premises. They may want to encourage colleagues to make the switch to EVs or have plans to upgrade their current fleet to electric car(s) or van(s) in the near future, and are planning ahead.   

The great thing about this grant is that businesses can start small by installing one fully operational EV charger while laying the electrical groundwork for the installation of future charge points.   

The grant can be used to cover the costs of: installation, the charging hardware, grid connections, vehicle barriers and site survey works.   

Support For Businesses

Workplace Charging Scheme

Probably the most well-known and established grant, the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) provides financial support to businesses towards the cost of purchasing and installing workplace charge points. This makes the EV infrastructure business case even more compelling. 

It was first introduced by OZEV in 2016, renewed in 2020, and in 2022 was opened up to SMEs, small accommodation businesses, commercial landlords and charities. The deadline to apply is 31 March 2025. 

The scheme allows for up to £350 per charging socket (maximum of 40 sockets) up to a value of £14,000.  

The scheme covers up to 75% of the costs of the purchase and installation of EV charge points (including VAT), to a maximum of: 

• £350 per socket 
• 40 sockets across all sites per applicant 

Eligibility   

It is open to eligible:  

• businesses 
• charities  
• public sector organisations  
• small accommodation businesses 

Example business case – corporate workplaces with electric fleet     

As an authorised OZEV installer, we have supported many businesses to access the WCS. We assisted smart infrastructure solutions company, Costain through the process. Costain required a partner who could provide and install EV charging infrastructure across all its UK offices to power its 3,000-strong fleet.  

Our expert associate provided advice on what the company could claim and what site power was required after a full site survey. The associate was also on hand to help with any application queries.  

Costain saved approximately £12,000 on 34 sockets across four of their UK sites and reaped the benefits from installing EV charging stations at their sites. 

Workplace Charging Scheme for state-funded education institutions

Whilst the government has provided support to install charge points at workplaces, it has also been noted that ‘[schools] have one of the largest estates of any public building entity in the UK and are traditionally centred in residential areas, providing a potential source of charging for staff, visitors and local residents at night, weekends and during school holidays.’  

A new grant was therefore launched in February of this year, applications for which will close on 31 March 2025. It will provide support for state-funded schools towards the costs of purchasing and installing charge points. Independent schools can seek funding via the Workplace Charging Scheme.  

The grant offers 75% off the cost to buy and install charge points, up to a maximum of £2,500 per socket and 40 sockets across all sites.  

 To be eligible, organisations must have:   

• An existing or future need for EV charging 
• Designated off-street parking facilities associated with the premises 
• A site survey carried out by an installer, with confirmation that the site can support EV charging   

 Full eligibility criteria can be found on the government website. Parties can complete the online application form, and if successful will be emailed a voucher code.