Electric vehicle charging device grant scheme statistics: July 2021
Published 19 August 2021
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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 up to July 2021.
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).
Key statistics
Domestic charging devices
As of 1 July 2021:
- OZEV funded grant schemes (EVHS and DRS) have delivered 197,985 domestic charging devices since 2013
- the EVHS has funded the installation of 157,652 domestic charging devices
- in the last 12 months, the EVHS installed 44,685 devices, up nearly 40% from July 2020
Workplace charging devices
As of 1 July 2021:
- the WCS has funded the installation of 16,975 sockets in workplace car parks since the scheme started in 2016
- of these, 7,118 WCS sockets were installed in the last 12 months, up 72% from July 2020
On-street residential devices
As of 1 July 2021:
- the ORCS has funded 1,459 public charging devices which have been installed across local authorities in the UK
- of these, 778 charging devices were installed after being claimed for by the local authorities in the last 3 months
- funding has also been awarded for 3,282 more 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.
Chart 1 shows the cumulative growth of EVHS funded charging devices (Table EVG_01)
Since September 2014, a total of 157,652 domestic charging devices have been installed under the scheme, with a total grant value of £76,831,928. In the last 12 months, EVHS funded charging devices have increased by nearly 40%, with a funding value of £15,746,479.
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 second quarter of 2021. The statistics should therefore be treated as provisional.
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 quarterly breakdown of DRS installations can be found in Table EVG_12.
Together, the EVHS and DRS have contributed to the installation of 197,985 domestic electric vehicle charging devices across the UK as of 1 July 2021.
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 and tenancy properties
- car ownership
- rurality
- income
Map 1 and 2 show the regional distribution of the total number of EVHS installations and per 100,000 households
As Map 1 shows, the South East had the highest number of charging device installations under the EVHS, accounting for 20% of total devices installed under the scheme. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland had the lowest number of installations with 2,736 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 of EVHS devices per 100,000 households whilst Northern Ireland and Wales had the lowest. However, London was comparable with Northern Ireland and Wales with just 394 charging devices per 100,000 households.
Table EVG_02 and Table EVG_04 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.
Chart 2 shows the cumulative growth of WCS funded sockets (Table EVG_05)
Since the scheme started in late 2016, a total of 6,165 vouchers have been redeemed accounting for 16,975 sockets installed under the WCS grant. This equated to a total grant value of £7,190,514.
In the last 12 months, 3,069 vouchers were redeemed, doubling the total number. This corresponded to 7,118 sockets which have been installed with a grant value of £2,611,189. This represented a 72% increase in WCS sockets across the UK.
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.
Map 3 and 4 shows the regional distribution of the total number of WCS socket installations and per 100,000 of the population
As Map 3 shows, in terms of regional distribution of WCS sockets, the South East had the highest uptake with 2,465 sockets installed whilst Wales and Northern Ireland had the lowest. Combined they accounted for 5.9% 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 12 WCS installations per 100,000. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also had the smallest number of WCS installations compared to any region in England other than London. However, in all other regions in England, the distribution was much more uniform with 25 to 33 sockets per 100,000 of the population.
Table EVG_06 and Table EVG_07 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.
As of 1 July 2021, the ORCS has funded the installation of 1,459 public charging devices since the scheme was established in 2017. This represents £4,595,361 of grant funding across 49 councils, the details of which can be found in Table EVG_08 and Table EVG_09. An additional 778 on-street devices were recorded as installed in the last 3 months.
A further 88 local authorities have also been awarded grant funding, providing 3,282 on-street public charging devices with their installations yet to be completed.
A table of councils which have applied for this funding can be found in Table EVG_10 and Table EVG_11.
In February 2021, OZEV announced that the scheme would continue into the 2021 to 2022 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 would welcome feedback from users of the statistics. This can be provided by emailing Environment Statistics.
These statistics 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 for January to March 2021 has increased by 15,091 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 in the UK is likely to be different to the figures provided. For instance, 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:
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.
The quarterly statistical series complements 3 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.
Twitter. To hear more about DfT statistical publications as they are released, please follow us on Twitter via @DfTstats.
Next Update
Quarterly electric vehicle charging device grant scheme statistics will be released in November 2021.
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