Thirteen local authorities in the Midlands have received £40.8 million in funding from the government towards EV chargepoints in areas with limited off-street parking.
The funding comes from the government’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, which will help deliver more than 16,000 chargepoint sockets across the region, with exact numbers determined as part of future contracts.
The bid was submitted in 2024: a partnership of eight local authorities led by Lincolnshire Country Council and Worcestershire County Council bid for £20.64 million, joining five other local authority partners led by Nottinghamshire County Council, which secured £20.17 million.
According to Midlands Connect, an organisation working to improve transport infrastructure across the region, almost 31% of Midlands residents do not have access to off-street parking.
In February, the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) launched a service in collaboration with the Department for Transport (DfT), and the support body for the LEVI fund to help local authorities access bespoke template documents to aid the process of procuring EV chargepoints and other infrastructure. As a result, more initiatives like the Midlands rollout could be seen across the country.
Future of roads minister Lilian Greenwood confirmed the consortium of local authorities had received the funding this morning, commenting: “Making charging as seamless and as easy as possible is crucial to making the switch to electric a success and rolling out over 16,000 chargers across the Midlands will make driving an EV cheaper and easier, especially for those without a driveway.”
The announcement comes in the same week that figures revealed one in four new cars sold in February was an EV. New AutoMotive’s latest Electric Car Count report found that registrations of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) grew by 37.4% in February, marking the fifth consecutive month where over 20% of new cars were fully electric. Meanwhile, the SMMT’s monthly car registration data revealed that sales of BEVS grew by 41.7% year on year to reach a 25.3% market share in 2025.
It also follows the revelation that the UK surpassed 75,000 public EV chargers installed, reaching 75,675 chargepoints at the end of February, representing a 32% year-on-year increase compared to February 2024.
Co-founder and COO of Zapmap, the EV chargepoint mapping service that published the charging data, Melanie Shufflebotham commented: “An extensive network of public charging, especially high visibility hubs, helps drive confidence for the next wave of drivers who will be making the switch to electric over the next few years.”
