Please note that this page contains information and links most relevant for people living in England.
About the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund
The UK Government’s LEVI fund supports local authorities in England to work with the chargepoint industry, to improve the roll out and commercialisation of local charging infrastructure.
These public chargepoints will help residents who don’t have off-street parking and need to charge their electric vehicles (EVs).
The fund includes:
Capital funding to contribute to the costs of delivering chargepoints.
Capability funding for local authorities to employ and train new staff specifically to plan and deliver chargepoint infrastructure.
The LEVI fund builds on the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint scheme (ORCS), which is now closed to new applications.
Capital fund
Objectives
The LEVI Capital fund aims to:
deliver a step-change in the deployment of local, primarily low power, on-street charging infrastructure across England
accelerate the commercialisation of, and investment in, the local charging infrastructure sector
Application process
For local authorities to access their indicative funding, they must follow a three-stage process:
There are three stages to the LEVI Capital fund application process:
Stage one: expression of interest
Stage two: application form, criteria compliance and tender document review
Local authorities can access the Knowledge Repository which contains information and advice on planning and delivering EV infrastructure.
Local authorities showed evidence of how they planned to use their LEVI capital funding by completing an expression of interest (EOI form) in May 2023.
During the EOI stage, local authorities were asked if they’d like to receive their capital funding in either the 2023/2024 financial year (referred to as tranche one during the application process) or the 2024/2025 financial year (tranche two). Local Authorities also set out what their initial plans for the funding might be, and their existing experience in EVI deployment. This enabled the LEVI Support Body to assess the EOIs and determine which tranche the local authorities would begin their next stage in.
Local Authorities were given access to the stage two application form. This form asks local authorities to produce a draft tender document for review. Applications must satisfy the scope and conditions of the LEVI fund, as set out in pages 15 to 19 of the LEVI Capital Fund information pack.
We developed a concession contract Heads of Terms for local authorities seeking to deploy electric vehicle infrastructure. This provides best practice guidance on the key contractual and commercial terms that local authorities will need to consider for a contract. We advise local authorities to use these Heads of Terms, however it is not mandatory to do so.
Local authorities applying for LEVI grant funding will receive ongoing support from the EVI Support Service (previously LEVI Support Body) , and will be encouraged to complete their applications ahead of final deadlines.
Once the CID board approves the stage two application and ITT documents; a grant award letter, memorandum of understanding (MoU) is issued and the 100% of the capital funding.
Local authorities that have completed stages one and two will submit their draft EV infrastructure contract to the EVI Support Service (previously LEVISupport Body) for review and approval. This will be assessed to understand the outcome of the procurement, and to determine whether the commercial arrangement between local authorities and private sector partners have the fund objectives.
Published LEVI tenders
Please see the links below to access LEVI tenders that have been approved through the LEVI Capital Fund scheme and published by the relevant contracting authority.
Links are shared once the tier one local authority informs the Support Body the tender is published.
LEVI funding will be allocated to tier 1 local authorities in England. This means funding will be made available to county councils, unitary authorities or combined authorities. Separate arrangements have been made for London boroughs. The funding will support infrastructure delivery across the entire authority.
To make sure the constituent authorities’ needs are considered by LEVI-eligible local authorities, the LEVI Support Body will ask for letters of support from the relevant tier two authorities (or constituent authorities in a combined authority) for LEVI proposals.
Eligible local authorities will be informed of their LEVI capital funding amount. Funding has been determined for each local authority using a data-led approach.
Alongside public funding, local authorities will need to secure further investment to support the development of a more self-sufficient local chargepoint market ahead of the 2030 phase out date.
All capital costs associated with the installation of EV chargepoints are eligible for funding. This includes chargepoint hardware, electrical connection costs, civil engineering costs and other installation costs.
The LEVI Fund is intended to fund primarily lower powered local chargepoints. Rapid charging is eligible for funding as part of projects, but it’s expected that most of the funding supports delivery of lower powered chargepoints in line with LEVI Fund objectives.
Projects must demonstrate that they primarily focus on low powered chargepoints to benefit residents without off-street parking. More specific use cases can include:
Residents using local authority supported car clubs.
Commuting residents where the majority do not have off-street parking e.g. car parks near those homes.
The following users can also benefit from LEVI projects where there is sound commercial reasoning, but the minority of chargepoints must solely benefit them:
Tourists/customers/visitors/non-residential commuters e.g. car park and ride.
Private hire vehicle/ taxi drivers using ranks.
Commercial vehicle drivers (including cars and vans), excluding at the businesses’ address.
The LEVI fund aims to address regional and charging inequality through providing funding across England.
The fund will help to make sure that no part of the country is left behind.
Local authorities must collaborate within their area of allocated funding. This will mean greater coordination, scale and private sector investment in projects.
Outside of allocation areas, local authorities are also encouraged to work together and identify opportunities to join-up infrastructure deployment.
Capability fund
Objectives
The LEVI Capability fund is available to tier 1 local authorities in England. The Capability fund aims to:
increase the capacity and capability of every tier 1 local authority to plan and deliver EV infrastructure
enable every tier 1 local authority to have a published EV infrastructure strategy for its area
enable every tier 1 local authority to take advantage of the LEVI capital fund
Funding has been made available to county councils, unitary authorities and combined authorities, where applicable. Combined authorities will be allocated and issued funding on behalf of authorities in their region.
There is a bespoke approach for London that involves Transport for London and London councils.
Capability Funding has been extended until March 2029.
Yes. We welcome proposals where local authorities have found an opportunity to join up infrastructure capability and deployment.
Yes. Match funding is encouraged, and local authorities can use the grant funding to help deliver their plans.
Yes. Local authorities should identify how the resource funding can best support them to increase their capability to deliver EV infrastructure. This could mean one or multiple full-time members of staff across different roles and teams. The proposed approach should be explained in the proposal.
The LEVI Support Body will provide feedback and work with local authorities if initial proposals require further consideration.
The LEVI Support Body is available to talk about resourcing and recruitment. It should be noted that the scheme is aimed at securing and developing resource rather than specifically experienced technical experts, and the LEVI Support Body will provide tools to help with upskilling staff.
Local authorities should take advantage of upcoming onboarding and training services provided by Energy Saving Trust through the Local Government Support Programme. This will be valuable for new staff of all experience levels.
The funding is available for a set period, but we encourage all local authorities to think about how to create a lasting impact with the funding.
EVI Support Sercice
The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (EVI) Support Service helps organisations deliver electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints across England. We run this service with Cenex and PA Consulting.
Cenex delivers the National EV Insight & Strategy (NEVIS) tool. NEVIS supplies reliable, independent, up-to-date information about EVs and EV infrastructure both locally and nationally.
Cenex’s NEVIS service supplies reliable, independent, up-to-date information about EVs and EV infrastructure both locally and nationally. As part of Cenex’s EV Infrastructure Support Service role, NEVIS is available to all English Local Authorities free of charge until 31st March 2029. Applicable officers and member can access NEVIS using their work email address
The LEVI Support Body (Energy Saving Trust, Cenex and PA Consulting) provided ongoing support and guidance to all LEVI fund applicants. The support body was the first point of contact for any queries or questions about the LEVI scheme.
The EVI Support Service (Energy Saving Trust, Cenex and PA Consulting), procured by OZEV, now offers support to local authorities and the public sector.
Energy Saving Trust is an independent organisation dedicated to promoting energy efficiency, low carbon transport and sustainable energy use. We aim to address the climate emergency and deliver the wider benefits of clean energy as the UK transitions to net zero.
