What is the Fund?

The Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund has been allocated to support local authorities in England, to plan and roll out charging infrastructure for residents without off-street parking. The Fund consists of capital funding, supporting chargepoint delivery, as well as capability funding, ensuring local authorities can employ and train new staff to plan and deliver the charging infrastructure. A breakdown of the funding allocation amounts and how it is calculated can be found here.

What are the objectives of the Fund?

Building on the existing On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS), the LEVI Fund has two main objectives: to deliver a step-change in the deployment of local, primarily low power, on-street charging infrastructure across England, as well as accelerating the commercialisation of, and investment in, the local charging infrastructure sector.

How do I apply for the capital funding?

Tier 1 local authorities in England, including unitary, county council and combined authorities, have been allocated indicative capital funding on behalf of all their constituent authorities. For the relevant authorities in London, capital funding will be delivered through borough partnerships.

To access indicative funding, local authorities need to follow the 3-stage process below; those allocated in funding tranche 1 (financial year 2023-24) must apply by Thursday 30 November 2023. For authorities in funding tranche 2 (financial year 2024-25), they will submit their application forms in the next financial year.

Stage 2 of this process is now open:

1.       Expression of interest

2.       Application form, criteria compliance and tender document review

3.       Contract review

More information on the above steps can be found here; the capital funding allocations to local and combined authorities can be found here.

How do I apply for the capability funding?

To access capability funding, you must either be a tier 1 local or combined authority within England (acting on behalf of authorities in their region), or a partnership or consortium led by a tier 1 local authority within England. A bespoke approach is in place for London through Transport for London (TfL) and London Councils.

The Fund is now live and government is working with local authorities who have completed their proposals. Local authorities will receive confirmation from government, including when their first payment will be made for the financial year 2023-24, once they have been approved for the funding.

The capability funding allocations to local and combined authorities can be found here.

How can ESPO help?

If you have already secured, or are planning on securing LEVI funding, ESPO can support your local authority; we offer a Vehicle Charging Infrastructure (636) framework, providing access to a vast range of solutions including fast/rapid and ultra-rapid EV chargers, compatible back-office solutions from market-leading suppliers and much more. Get in touch with one of experts today by contacting place@espo.org. Further information about the Fund can be found by the LEVI support body here.