Huge take-up of grants for EV home chargers
Last year saw a record increase in demand for electric car home charging grants, according to figures from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles.
More than 42,000 grants for home charging devices were made last year, worth nearly £17m, that is more than 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 devices at domestic properties in the UK.
The figures follow last week’s news, that new electric vehicle registrations rocketed in 2020, hitting 87% growth for alternative fuel vehicles. Total vehicle registrations dropped 27% during 2020, with diesel vehicles being particularly badly hit, down 51%.
Greg Wilson, founder of insurance site Quotezone.co.uk says: “Easy access to charging points is crucial to meeting the government’s ambitious targets for electric vehicle use, but there is much work to do to meet the government’s plans. Research suggests that investment in the region of
£16.7bn is needed on the public charging infrastructure alone.
“While grant funding take-up for charging devices shot up last year, it will need to increase to ensure that more than two million new vehicles sold each year can access electric charging points as the 2030 deadline (the government’s planned end for the sale of new petrol and diesel cars) draws closer.”