Official Statistics

Electric vehicle charging device grant scheme statistics: July 2023

Published 31 August 2023

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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 July 2023.

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 Chargepoint Grant (EVCG), Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) and the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS). This publication also covers the Domestic Recharging Scheme (DRS) and Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS), the predecessors to the EVCG.

Headline figures

Domestic Charging Devices

As of 1 July 2023:

• the newest OZEV funded grant scheme, the EVCG, has funded the installation of 3,433 domestic sockets since the scheme was launched in April 2022

• Previous OZEV funded grant schemes (EVHS and DRS) have delivered 380,555 domestic charging devices since 2013

• the EVHS has funded the installation of 340,222 domestic charging devices

Workplace Charging Devices

As of 1 July 2023:

• the WCS has funded the installation of 46,172 sockets in workplace carparks since the scheme started in 2016

• the WCS funded 12,701 sockets installations since 1 July 2022

On-Street Residential Devices

As of 1 July 2023:

• completed ORCS projects represent 4,342 public charging devices installed across local authorities in the UK since the scheme’s launch in 2017

• projects completed in the last 3 months include a total of 107 on-street charging device installations

• funding has also been awarded for 14,397 additional ORCS charging devices. This includes both devices installed, but where projects are yet to complete, and those to be installed in the future

Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant (EVCG)

The EV chargepoint grant provides funding of up to £350 towards the cost of installing electric vehicle smart chargepoints at domestic properties across the UK. It replaced the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) on 1 April 2022.

Chart 1 - Cumulative growth of EVCG funded charging sockets, UK (Table 1)

The EVCG scheme can be broken down by type of grant:

• electric vehicle chargepoint grants for residential landlords - grants for existing properties that the applicant owns or manages but does not live within such as an apartment block, housing estate, private registered provider of social housing or public sector organisation

• electric vehicle infrastructure grant for residential car parks - grants up to £30,000 off the costs of the infrastructure needed to install chargepoints in residential car parks

• flat owner-occupiers and people living in rented properties - grants of up to £350 for electric vehicle drivers who live in a flat or rent any residential property

As of 1 July 2023, 3,433 sockets have been installed, this corresponds to approximately £3 million in grants. Flats and renters account for 1,971 sockets installed, this accounts for 57% of installations. Residential car parks account for 1,061 sockets installed accounting for 31%. The remaining 12% is from landlords’ applications whose grants had installed 401 sockets.

It is worth noting that car parks and landlords can apply for larger grants, as opposed to a flat which will always only have one installation. More information about the EVCG grant scheme is available.

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.

Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS)

Since 1 April 2022 the EVHS is no longer open to new applicants and has been replaced with the EV chargepoint grant. The EVHS has remained within this report to capture the final installations of the grant scheme. From October 2023, the tables will remain within this publication but not the commentary.

The EVHS provided grant funding for up to £350 of the cost of installing electric vehicle charging devices at domestic properties across the UK. More information on the EVHS grant scheme is available.

Since September 2014, a total of 340,222 domestic charging devices have been installed under the scheme, with a total grant value of £140.8 million.

These statistics are taken from a database held by DVLA which records grant applications for administrative purposes.

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 13.

Together, the EVHS and DRS have contributed to the installation of 380,555 domestic electric vehicle charging devices across the UK as of 1 July 2023.

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/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, UK, 1 July 2023

As Map 1 shows, the South East had the highest number of charging device installations under the EVHS (63,340), accounting for 19% of total devices installed under the scheme. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland had the lowest number of installations with 5,887 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 (1,718) of EVHS devices per 100,000 households whilst Northern Ireland and London had the lowest with less than 800 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 10 and Table 12 also provides a breakdown of EVHS charging devices and their grant value in each local authority in the UK whilst Table 11 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 WCS grant scheme is available.

Chart 2 - Cumulative growth of WCS funded sockets, as of first of each quarter (Table 2)

Since the scheme started in late 2016, a total of 18,162 vouchers have been redeemed accounting for 46,172 sockets installed under the WCS grant. This equated to a total grant value of £17.2 million.

In the last 12 months, 5,776 vouchers were redeemed, corresponding to the installation of 12,701 sockets. This had a grant value of £4.38 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.

For example, the number of WCS installations from January to March 2023 has increased by 1,899 since the last publication, as more applications for that period have been processed.

Maps 3 and 4 - Regional distribution of total number of WCS socket installations and per 100,000 of population, UK, 1 July 2023

As Map 3 shows, in terms of regional distribution of WCS sockets, the South East had the highest uptake with 6,874 sockets installed whilst Wales and Northern Ireland had the lowest, 1,725 and 855 respectively. Together, Wales and Northern Ireland accounted for 5.6% 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 34 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 3 and Table 4 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 50% 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.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, 1 July 2023

ORCS projects are only counted as completed when all devices have been installed and final funding payments have been claimed by the local authority. As such, the total number of devices installed using ORCS funding could be larger than reported in completed projects, as those in partially completed projects are not included.

As of 1 July 2023, the ORCS has funded 4,342 public charging devices in completed projects since the scheme was established in 2017. This represents £16.8 million of grant funding across 121 councils. The details of which can be found in Table 5 and Table 6. Of these, 107 on-street devices were within projects completed in the previous 3 months.

Of the councils that have already completed projects which received ORCS funding, 44 have had further funding awarded to install a further 7,542 charging devices with a grant value of £21.1 million.

A further 86 local authorities have also been awarded grant funding, to provide 6,855 on-street public charging devices. This represents a grant value of £35.6 million.

The number of ORCS approved applications in London outnumber the rest of the country, and account for 55% of all ORCS approved applications. The majority of these approved applications are within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham with 2,500 charging devices and London Borough of Barnet with 1,793 charging devices.

A table of councils which have applied for this funding can be found in Table 7 and Table 8 and shown for the UK and London in Maps 5 and 6.

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 emailing 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 for the EVCG and WCS.

ORCS projects are only counted as completed when all devices have been installed and final funding payments have been claimed by the local authority. As such, the total number of devices installed using ORCS funding is larger than reported in completed projects, as those in partially completed projects are not included.

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 EVCG

• approved manufacturers for the WCS

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 2021. 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 2023, 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:

• local authority rapids

• public sector fasts

• domestics

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.

To hear more about DfT statistical publications as they are released, please follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) at DfTstats.

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 July 2023:

Region	EVHS Total Devices	EVHS Devices per 100,000 Households
United Kingdom	340,222	1,241
North East	13,272	1,154
North West	36,558	1,192
Yorkshire and the Humber	27,215	1,189
East Midlands	27,855	1,425
West Midlands	30,303	1,276
East of England	37,952	1,489
London	26,379	770
South East	63,340	1,718
South West	29,944	1,281
Wales	12,647	939
Scotland	25,590	1,035
Northern Ireland	5,887	784
Unknown	3,280	-

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

As of 1 July 2023:

Region	WCS Total Sockets	WCS Sockets per 100,000 Population
United Kingdom	46,172	69
North East	1,994	75
North West	5,295	71
Yorkshire and the Humber	4,704	86
East Midlands	4,386	90
West Midlands	4,632	78
East of England	5,719	90
London	2,981	34
South East	6,874	74
South West	4,121	72
Wales	1,725	56
Scotland	2,886	53
Northern Ireland	855	45

Next update

Quarterly electric vehicle charging device grant scheme statistics will be released in November 2023.

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