Expanding electrical vehicle infrastructure: Government vows to install numerous charging stations across England
The United Kingdom government, particularly in England, is spearheading a significant expansion of electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints as part of its broader infrastructure and decarbonisation strategy. This ambitious plan, supported by substantial funding, aims to address the growing demand for EV charging infrastructure.
Key points regarding the scale and status of this rollout are as follows:
1. The government's 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy, published in June 2025, outlines plans to upgrade energy infrastructure across England, with a focus on publicly available EV chargepoints, targeting growth up to 2030 [1].
2. The Office for Transport and the Department for Transport are collaborating closely with local authorities and private sector chargepoint operators to expand on-street EV charging, particularly for drivers without off-street parking. This expansion is financially supported by the £381 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund, designed to transform EV charge availability by funding installations like lamp post chargepoints in England [2].
3. Although a precise number of planned local chargepoints in England is not explicitly stated in the available documents, the government is making substantial investments, including a £3.1 billion allocation by Ofgem for network upgrades to support low-carbon technologies, including EV charging infrastructure, from 2025 to 2030 [2].
4. The publicly available chargepoint rollout is illustrated in government infrastructure strategy materials, showing growth projections from 2015 through to 2030 across the UK, with England being a primary focus [1].
5. The government regularly engages with local authorities and chargepoint operators to coordinate the rollout and ensure infrastructure can meet the growing EV adoption. The sector anticipates a 72% growth in EVs on UK roads in the next three years, which will increase demand for accessible charging infrastructure [3].
In summary, the UK government is committed to a multi-hundred-million-pound funded programme, such as the £381m LEVI fund, and Ofgem's multi-billion-pound investment plan to upgrade networks. The strategy is to expand chargepoints widely in England, especially on-street and for those lacking private parking. The exact total number of new local chargepoints planned is not specified in the current publicly available documents but is part of a continuing and expanding rollout through to 2030.
Suffolk County Council has become the first local authority in England to enter into a contract with a chargepoint operator to initiate the rollout. Initially, local authorities were slow to apply for the funding for these chargepoints, but LEVI is expected to support around 80 local authority projects across England, of which around 30 have reached the procurement stage.
The government's support for local chargepoints signifies a commitment to making more progress in the electric vehicle sector. As the rollout continues, government infrastructure reports and ongoing parliamentary updates may provide quantitative details to shed more light on the exact number of chargepoints to be installed.
- To further enable the growth in electric vehicles, Suffolk County Council, the first local authority in England, is collaborating with a chargepoint operator to increase the availability of environmental-science technology, such as EV chargepoints, within its jurisdiction.
- The UK government's financial support for the expansion of on-street EV chargepoints, like the £381 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund, also extends to the sector of finance, as this investment may influence the development of new technologies in the future.
