The government has announced an additional £56 million in funding for increasing the number of electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints across the country.

England's technology transport minister said that the money would help deliver up to a further 2,400 chargepoints in the short term in addition to the tens of thousands planned for the long term.

The government is putting forward £22 million, while an additional £17 million will be made up of private funding. £2 million will be taken from public funds across local authorities.

The government says it has already spent over £2 billion to support the move to zero emission vehicles.

“The government is giving local authorities across England additional help today to energise their chargepoint rollout plans,” said technology and decarbonisation transport minister Jesse Norman. “Today’s commitment will lead to thousands of new chargers being installed, and plans for tens of thousands extra in due course, so that more people than ever can make the transition to using EVs.”

The funding expands the existing Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot and the On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS).

The government said the move would help councils across England “secure dedicated resource to develop in-house expertise and capability to coordinate chargepoint plans and work with private operators”.

The announcement also includes the launch of 16 new pilot scheme areas in Buckinghamshire; Cumbria; Hackney; Harborough; Hounslow; Lancashire; Norfolk; Oxfordshire; Rotherham; Sunderland; Waltham Forest; Warwickshire; West Midlands; West Sussex; West Yorkshire; and York.

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