Funding Public Chargepoints
The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles and its predecessor, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, have funded several schemes for both public and private charging. This page gives more details on how schemes for public chargepoints work and how they can be benefit you. For information on schemes for home charging, please see our grants page.Chargepoint funding schemes in England
Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI, 2022-present)
LEVI is the flagship programme for near-home public charging, with £381m of capital funding for new chargepoints across England. OZEV transfers this funding to highway authorities, who then set up tenders for the contract in their area.
It is understood that LEVI will be the last government grant for near-home public chargepoints for some time, however there is no deadline on when your highway authority might spend their LEVI fund. It could go towards new chargepoint installations for years to come.
To see how much your highway authority has received under LEVI, and how it is spending it, please enter your postcode:
Chargepoint funding schemes across the UK
On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS, 2017-2024)
The smaller-scale predecessor to LEVI was ORCS. You can also find out information on ORCS schemes in your local area by entering your postcode above.
Fundamental differences between LEVI and ORCS include:| LEVI (2022-present) | ORCS (2017-2024) | |
|---|---|---|
| Region of scheme | England only | Across the UK |
| Authority which receives funding and administers rollout | LEVI funding goes to the highway authority (which is the county council in two-tier areas, and the unitary authority in unitary areas). | Any local authority, from large combined authorities down to tiny parish councils, could apply for ORCS funding. (In two-tier areas, ORCS funding and LEVI funding might be administered by different authorities.) |
| Determination of funding | OZEV determined LEVI funding for each highway authority in 2023. They used this methodology. Highway authorities do not have the option to reject LEVI funding or change the capital value. | Local authorities applied for ORCS funding based on their own requirements. |
| Breakdown of spend | The LEVI capital funding is of a fixed nature and contributes towards a portfolio of chargepoints - the more, the better. It is not possible to discern the percentage contribution of the LEVI fund on a chargepoint-by-chargepoint basis. The percentage contribution of the LEVI fund to a highway authority's portfolio will vary across the country. | ORCS funding was applied discretely at 50%, 60%, or 75% of the cost of each chargepoint (the proportion that the government subsidised decreased as the scheme went forward). |
| Total funding across England | £381m | Around £81m (adding up total for complete and incomplete projects from these data) |
| Number of charging devices across England | Hoped to be over 100,000. | Around 21,000 (adding up total for complete and incomplete projects from these data). Note that this is a substantial proportion of the 85,000 charging devices as of August 2025. |