The Government has allocated an additional £2.5 million to fund more than 1,000 new chargepoints on residential streets.

Announcing the additional cash today (Monday, August 12), transport secretary Grant Shapps says the funding will support the on-street residential chargepoint scheme, launched in 2017, which aims to help people access charging infrastructure near their homes when they don’t have off-street parking.

It will go towards helping local authorities to install these chargepoints, which can be built into existing structures like lamp-posts.

The scheme aims to encourage even more people to choose an electric vehicle (EV) by making it easier to charge their cars near home and has already seen 16 local authorities say they will install 1,200 chargepoints this year.

The Transport Secretary is now doubling funding for the scheme to meet demand and accelerate the take-up of electric vehicles as the UK moves towards net zero emissions by 2050 and further improve air quality.

Shapps said: “It’s fantastic that there are now more than 20,000 publicly accessible chargepoints and double the number of electric vehicle chargepoints than petrol stations, but we want to do much more.

“It’s vital that electric vehicle drivers feel confident about the availability of chargepoints near their homes, and that charging an electric car is seen as easy as plugging in a smartphone.

“That’s why we are now doubling the funding available for local authorities to continue building the infrastructure we need to super-charge the zero emission revolution – right across the country.”

The allocation of funding for on-street residential chargepoints is part of the £1.5 billion investment underpinned by the Road to Zero Strategy.

Read more: FleetNews