The government has announced that it is doubling funding for on-street electric vehicle charging to support over 1,000 new charge points across the country.

An additional £2.5 million will help local authorities install charging infrastructure, which can be built into existing structures like lamp-posts.

The scheme is intended to help people who don’t have off-street parking access a charge point near their home and encourage more drivers to choose an electric vehicle.

Responding to the announcement, a National Infrastructure Commission spokesperson said:

“While additional investment for charging infrastructure is welcome, the government needs to go even further to jump-start the electric revolution.

“This new funding is specifically for residential areas and will help deliver slow and smart charge points aimed at overnight use – but equally important is rolling out rapid chargers for long journeys away from home.

“If we’re going to speed up the switch to electric vehicles, Britain needs a truly national and visible rapid charging network, to give drivers confidence that they can refuel wherever they go.”

The National Infrastructure Assessment published in July 2018, calls for the government to ensure that charging infrastructure is in place to enable new car and van sales to reach close to 100 per cent electric by 2030, requiring the roll-out of a national rapid charging network for electric vehicles by the early 2020s.

The Commission has made a series of recommendations, including subsidising the provision of rapid charging infrastructure in rural and remote areas by 2022 where the market won’t deliver in the short term and getting local authorities to allocate 20 per cent of their parking spaces for charging points by 2025.

Read more about the Commission’s #ChargeUpBritain campaign here.