Official Statistics

Electric vehicle charging device grant scheme statistics: April 2022

Published 26 May 2022

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About this release

This summary presents experimental statistics on the number of grants awarded for the installation of electric vehicle charging devices in the United Kingdom as of 1 April 2022.

The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) provides grants to support the use of electric vehicles, including the installation of charging devices in the UK. This summary covers statistics on selected grant schemes currently running, including the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS), Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) and the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS). This publication also covers the Domestic Recharging Scheme (DRS), the predecessor to the EVHS.

Headline figures

Domestic Charging Devices

As of 1 April 2022:

  • OZEV funded grant schemes (EVHS and DRS) have delivered 331,882 domestic charging devices since 2013
  • the EVHS has funded the installation of 291,549 domestic charging devices
  • the EVHS funded 121,001 device installations since 1 April 2021, this is an 86% increase compared to the previous 12-month period

Workplace Charging Devices

As of 1 April 2022:

  • the WCS has funded the installation of 26,424 sockets in workplace carparks since the scheme started in 2016
  • the WCS funded 10,727 sockets installations since 1 April 2021, an increase of almost 60% compared to the previous 12-month period

On-Street Residential Devices

As of 1 April 2022:

  • the ORCS has funded 2,641 public charging devices which have been installed across local authorities in the UK
  • 603 on-street charging devices were installed after being claimed for by the local authorities in the previous 3 months
  • funding has also been awarded for 8,415 additional ORCS charging devices to be installed in the future

Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS)

The EVHS provides grant funding for up to 75% of the cost of installing electric vehicle charging devices at domestic properties across the UK. More information on the grant scheme is available. From 1 April 2022 the EVHS is no longer open to new applicants and has been replaced with the EV chargepoint grant.

Chart 1 - Cumulative growth of EVHS funded charging devices, October 2014 onwards, UK Table EVG_01

This chart shows the cumulative increase in the number of Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme funded charging devices from 2014 to present. As of 1 April 2022, a total of 291,549 domestic charging devices have been installed.

Since September 2014, a total of 291,549 domestic charging devices have been installed under the scheme, with a total grant value of £123.7 million. In the last 12 months the number of EVHS funded charging devices has increased by 121,001, corresponding to an additional £42.3 million in grant value.

These statistics are taken from a database held by DVLA which records grant applications for administrative purposes. Grants can take several months to process and the most recent quarters are likely to be undercounted, especially the first quarter of 2022. The statistics should therefore be treated as provisional.

For example, the number of EVHS installations from October to December 2021 has increased by 21,015 since the last publication, as more applications for that period have been processed.

In addition to the EVHS, the Domestic Recharge Scheme (DRS) has also helped private plug-in vehicle owners offset the upfront cost of the purchase and installation of a dedicated recharging unit. This funded an additional 40,333 domestic charging device installations between 2013 and 2014, before it was replaced by the EVHS. A yearly breakdown of DRS installations can be found in Table EVG_12.

Together, the EVHS and DRS have contributed to the installation of 331,882 domestic electric vehicle charging devices across the UK as of 1 April 2022.

There is an uneven geographical distribution of EVHS charging devices within the UK. Grant uptake by consumers is likely to be dependent on a variety of factors, including:

  • access to an electric vehicle
  • access to off-street parking
  • leasehold or tenancy properties
  • car ownership
  • rurality
  • income

Maps 1 and 2 - Regional distribution of the total number of EVHS installations and EVHS installations per 100,000 households

Map 1 shows the number of Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme funded charging devices in each UK region. Map 2 shows funded devices per 100,000 households in each UK region. Please refer to Annex A: Table 1 for further information.

As Map 1 shows, the South East had the highest number of charging device installations under the EVHS (55,101), accounting for 19% of total devices installed under the scheme. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland had the lowest number of installations with 5,028 EVHS funded charging devices, accounting for just 1.7% of total EVHS funded devices.

As Map 2 shows, the South East also had the highest number (1,495) of EVHS devices per 100,000 households whilst Northern Ireland and London had the lowest with less than 700 devices per 100,000 households.

Further detail on the regional breakdown of EVHS device numbers displayed in Maps 1 and 2 can be found in Annex A.

Table EVG_02 and Table EVG_04 also provides a breakdown of EVHS charging devices and their grant value in each local authority in the UK whilst Table EVG_03 provides a breakdown of charging devices installed in each postcode district.

Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS)

The WCS is a voucher-based scheme designed to provide eligible organisations with support towards the upfront costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charging devices. If an application is successful, applicants are issued with a unique identification voucher, which can then be used to install multiple charging devices. In these statistics, the number of sockets installed is counted as sometimes there is one grant for up to four charging devices in the same workplace carpark. More information on the grant scheme is available.

Chart 2 - Cumulative growth of WCS funded sockets Table EVG_05

This chart shows the cumulative increase in the number of Workplace Charging Scheme funded sockets from 2016 to present. At the 1 April 2022, a total of 26,424 sockets have been installed.

Since the scheme started in late 2016, a total of 9,710 vouchers have been redeemed accounting for 26,424 sockets installed under the WCS grant. This equated to a total grant value of £10.5 million.

In the last 12 months, 4,118 vouchers were redeemed, corresponding to the installation of 10,727 sockets. This had a grant value of £3.7 million.

These statistics are taken from a database which records grant applications for administrative purposes. Grants can take several months to process and the most recent quarters are likely to be undercounted. The statistics should therefore be treated as provisional.

Maps 3 and 4 - Regional distribution of total number of WCS socket installations and per 100,000 of population

Map 3 shows the number of Workplace Charging Scheme funded sockets in each UK region. Map 4 shows Workplace Charging Scheme funded sockets per 100,000 of the population in each UK region. Please refer to Annex A: Table 2 for further information.

As Map 3 shows, in terms of regional distribution of WCS sockets, the South East had the highest uptake with 3,962 sockets installed whilst Wales and Northern Ireland had the lowest, 976 and 536 respectively. Together, Wales and Northern Ireland accounted for 5.7% of total sockets installed under the WCS in the UK.

When comparing the regional distribution per 100,000 of the population as seen in Map 4, London had the smallest number of WCS installations in the UK with 19 WCS installations per 100,000. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland also had fewer WCS installations than any English region except London.

Further detail on the regional breakdown of WCS socket numbers displayed in Maps 3 and 4 can be found in Annex A.

Table EVG_06 and Table EVG_07 also provides a further breakdown of WCS sockets installed and their grant value in each local authority in the UK.

On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS)

This scheme is available to all UK local authorities to fund up to 75% of the capital costs of installing on-street residential charging devices to ensure that those without private off-street parking are able to access reliable and affordable charging infrastructure. From the 1st April 2022 onwards, the scheme covers 60% of all capital costs of installing on-street residential charging devices. More information on the scheme is available.

Maps 5 and 6 - Distribution of local authorities which have been awarded ORCS funding for the UK and London

Map 5 shows the distribution of councils that have installed and/or applied for charging devices funded by the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme for the whole of the UK. Map 6 shows the same but for London councils.

As of 1 April 2022, the ORCS has funded the installation of 2,641 public charging devices since the scheme was established in 2017. This represents £9.1 million of grant funding across 87 councils. The details of which can be found in Table EVG_08 and Table EVG_09. An additional 603 on-street devices were recorded as installed in the previous 3 months.

Of the councils that have already completed installations, 27 have had further funding awarded to install a further 4,522 charging devices with a grant value of £11.8 million.

A further 70 local authorities have also been awarded grant funding, providing 3,893 on-street public charging devices with their installations yet to be completed. This represents a grant value of £17.6 million.

A table of councils which have applied for this funding can be found in Table EVG_10 and Table EVG_11 and shown for the UK and London in Maps 5 and 6.

As announced in the UK EV Infrastructure Strategy, the scheme will continue into the 2022 to 2023 financial year with a £20 million budget.

Current levels of public charging provision by local authority area can be found in the public electric vehicle charging devices statistics which are published quarterly. These will include the ORCS funded charging devices.

Background notes and limitations of data

This is a quarterly statistical release on electric vehicle infrastructure grant data. We welcome feedback from users of the statistics. This can be provided by contacting Environment Statistics.

These statistics are taken from databases which record grant applications for administrative purposes. In some cases, grants can take several months to process with the most recent quarter likely to be undercounted both for the EVHS and WCS. These statistics should therefore be treated as provisional. For example, the number of EVHS installations from October to December 2021 has increased by 21,015 since the last publication, as more applications for that period have been processed.

The ORCS grants are offered to successful applicants, but funds are only released upon final completion of information. Charging devices are only counted as installed when they have been installed and claimed for by the local authority.

The total number of domestic and workplace charging devices installed in the UK is likely to be different to the figures provided in this report as there is no requirement to register a privately funded charging device with the Government. We are also unable to confirm if the charging devices installed under the schemes are still operational. In addition, chargepoint manufacturers have to be approved by OZEV with some choosing not to be part of the grant schemes:

  • approved manufacturers for the EVHS
  • approved manufacturers for the WCS

In addition, these statistics present data on selected OZEV schemes which are currently running. OZEV offers a range of other support for the take-up of plug in vehicles, including further targeted schemes providing funding to support chargepoint infrastructure across the UK. More information can be found on the OZEV website.

Population figures by local authority are sourced from the Office for National Statistics Population Mid-Year Estimates for 2020. Household figures by local authority are sourced from the Office for National Statistics Estimated Number of Households in the UK in 2018. The local authority administrative geographies are from April 2021, available from the ONS Geography Portal.

The quarterly statistical series complements three earlier releases presenting statistics on observed usage and charging patterns for electric vehicle charging devices:

The Department for Transport also publishes statistics on publicly available electric vehicle charging devices.

Experimental Statistics

These quarterly statistics are badged as Experimental Statistics. Users should be aware of the status and cautions of these series, which will vary for each statistic and will be explained in each publication. The statistics are new but still subject to testing in terms of their volatility and ability to meet customer needs.

They do not necessarily meet the rigorous quality standards of National Statistics, for example with administrative data. Further details on the limitations of Experimental Statistics can be found at the Office for Statistics Regulation.

Annex A: EVHS and WCS Regional Table

Table 1 - EVHS Total Devices and Devices per 100,000 Households per Region (Maps 1 and 2)

As of 1 April 2022:

Region EVHS Total Devices EVHS Devices per 100,000 Households
United Kingdom 291,549 1,075
North East 11,551 1,004
North West 30,679 1,000
Yorkshire and the Humber 23,463 1,025
East Midlands 23,463 1,423
West Midlands 25,702 1,082
East of England 32,625 1,280
London 22,717 663
South East 55,101 1,495
South West 25,902 1,108
Wales 10,719 795
Scotland 21,549 871
Northern Ireland 5,028 670
Unknown 2,865 -

Table 2 - WCS Total Sockets and Devices per 100,000 Population per Region (Maps 3 and 4)

As of 1 April 2022:

Region WCS Total Sockets WCS Sockets per 100,000 Population
United Kingdom 26,424 39
North East 1,198 45
North West 3,077 42
Yorkshire and the Humber 2,724 49
East Midlands 2,524 52
West Midlands 2,718 46
East of England 3,087 49
London 1,674 19
South East 3,962 43
South West 2,372 42
Wales 976 31
Scotland 1,572 29
Northern Ireland 532 28

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Next update

Quarterly electric vehicle charging device grant scheme statistics will be released in August 2022.

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