More people received electric car grants in city

Over 120 people in Sunderland received electric car home charging grants last year, according to new figures.

The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles say 124 awards were made in the area during 2020 – bringing the total to 460 since 2014 with grants totalling £253,500.

They were among 42,000 grants made nationally last year, worth nearly £17m – over a quarter of the value of the total 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.

The south east leads the wayforthehighestpercentage of devices under the EVHS – 735 grants per 100,000 homes.

PrimeMinisterBorisJohnson announced in November 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.

The figures were compile by leading leading insurance comparison platform Quotezone.

Company founder Greg Wilson, said: “Easy access to recharging points is crucial to meeting the government’s ambitious targets for electric vehicle use, but there is still much work to do to meet the Government’s plans.

"Research suggests that an investment of £16.7bn is needed on the charging infrastructure alone. While grant funding take-up for charging devices has shot up over the last year, it will need to increase to ensure that more than two million vehicles sold each year can access electric points as the 2030 deadline draws closer.”