The Department of Transport have announced the next phase of support for plug-in car drivers to recharge their vehicles at home. In February 2013 the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) launched a £13.5m grant scheme subsidising householders wishing to install technology to recharge ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) at home. The original funding for domestic charge points has now been fully allocated and, to ensure continued support for both consumers and the industry, a new grant scheme is to be put in place. The mass roll out of domestic charge points made possible by this programme has also made them cheaper over time. This is reflected in the new grant scheme announced today, which will cap support at £900 rather than the maximum of £1,000 available under the previous scheme. The new scheme will see £9m made available to:
- Any ULEV owner and also drivers with regular access to one for work who are having a chargepoint installed at their home.
- Provide up to 75% of the total cost of the chargepoint and installation, up to a maximum of £900.
The new domestic chargepoint scheme will come into effect on 1 September 2014 and will run until 31 March 2015, or until the scheme budget has been exhausted. The previous grant scheme expired on 30 June 2014. However, to facilitate existing installation orders we are putting in place interim arrangements from 1 July until 31 August 2014 along broadly similar lines to the existing scheme. These will apply until the new scheme starts on 1 September 2014.
