EVHS Government Grant for Electric Car Home Charging
In a bid to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles in line with some ambitious targets for carbon neutrality, the UK Government has allocated a large budget to provide part-funding in the form of grant aid for funding home charging systems. Known as the Electric Vehicle Home Charge Scheme (EVHS), grants are available to help towards the cost of dedicated home charge points for faster, smarter and more efficient home charging of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV).
Administered by the Office of Zero Emissions (OZEV) formerly known as the Office of Low Emissions (OLEV), in this post we are taking a deeper dive into how the grants are administered, who is eligible for government grants for electric car charging points, how much you can get, and how to go about applying for them.
We Power Your Car – Authorised by OZEV
At We Power Your Car, we have been supplying and installing dedicated charging systems to the domestic and commercial markets for years. In that time, with over 7000 successful installations across the UK, we have been recognised by OZEV as an authorised installation company. OZEV provide online access to their list of authorised installers and you can check us out by going HERE
Why Choose We Power Your Car?
We are not tied to one particular manufacturer so advice and any recommendations we give you are truly impartial
Transparent pricing policy – instant price with no surprises and no hidden extras
We will check your eligibility for a government electric car grant, apply on your behalf and submit the paperwork for you
We offer a fantastic range of Office of Zero Emissions (OZEV) approved compatible home chargers for your electric vehicle.
All of our installers are professional electricians accredited to carry out home charger installations by OZEV
You get the benefit of our knowledge of the latest safety procedures and regulations
We provide commercial multi-point installations for fleet and industry
We Power Your Car – OZEV Accreditation
As already mentioned, there are some key factors that dictate whether or not a home charger installation can qualify for grant assistance from OZEV. There are 3 particular elements that are essential:
The installation must be carried out by an OZEV-approved company using an OZEV-approved installer in order to qualify for the EVHS grant. We Power Your Car are fully authorised by OZEV to carry out home charger supply and installation. Our installers are all fully qualified electricians backed up by manufacturer-specific product training and fully accredited by OZEV
The home charging system must be on the list of OZEV-approved devices. All home chargers available from We Power Your Car are on the approved list.
The vehicle must be on the list of vehicles approved by OZEV to be eligible for the grant. There is a list of eligible electric vehicles on the Government website. To check if your vehicle is eligible, please click here.
OZEV Installer Accreditation
When your home charger installation is carried out by an OZEV accredited installer you can be confident that the installation will be safe, professional and within all existing safety regulations. To become OZEV accredited an installer must provide the following;
- Proof of membership of an electrical registration scheme (qualified electrician)
- Proof of public liability insurance
- Proof that through specific product training and a manufacturer has approved them to install their equipment
- Proof that they have been trained to install electric vehicle charging points
OZEV or OLEV?
If you have been researching anything related Electric Vehicles or home charging, you are likely to have come across what at first appears to be two different organisations. OLEV and OZEV. Don’t get confused by this because the two acronyms actually refer to the same organisation. There has simply been a name change to reflect focus and ambitions that have expanded out from low emission vehicles and more towards zero emission vehicles.
In September of 2009 the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) was established as a cross-Government team with the aim of promoting and providing a route to ambitious targets to promote use of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles with the aim of decarbonising the road transport system. One of the many responsibilities assigned to OLEV was administering the electric car charging point grant aimed at subsidising supply and installation of smart EV charging systems both at home and in the workplace.
In December of 2020 OLEV announced the name change to OZEV as part of the drive to bring forward target dates for carbon neutrality and to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars at least by 2035 but possibly as early as 2030. They decided that zero emissions rather than low emissions was a more accurate reflection of intentions to be carbon neutral by 2050. The way that grants are administered and eligibility for them has not been affected by the name change. In fact, the grant schemes have expanded further with a new injection of funding and new remits that include leaseholders and renters who could not previously access funding.
The Three Step Plan for Carbon Neutral Road Transport
2030: Becomes the phase-out date for sale of new petrol or diesel cars
2030 to 2035: New cars and vans can be sold if they have the capability to drive a significant distance with zero emissions
2035: All new cars and vans be fully zero emission at the tailpipe
The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS)
The Department for Transport (DfT) on the 13 February 2021, announced that the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) will be extended for 2021-2022 with a further £1.3 billion allocated funding. The government recognises that many people will want to charge their electric vehicles at home and charge them efficiently. The extension of the EVHS scheme will help to make this happen.
Now that we have established that in terms of the company and its installation teams, We Power Your Car is a fully authorised company with the necessary accreditation to secure a grant for you, it is time to take a closer look at the details of the EHVS grant and what is available. We have to say that with a Government keen to back its quest for green credentials with billions of pounds in funding, now is a great time to join the plug-in revolution.
Do you qualify for the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) grant?
- Your EV or PHEV must have been bought after 1st October 2016.
- You must have legally accessed off-street parking, such as a driveway or garage.
- OZEV- must have approved the charger, the company and the installer
- You must either already own or keep an eligible vehicle or have one on order, and provide evidence that you are or will be, the keeper and primary user of that vehicle.
- The date you are intending to start using your electric vehicle must not be more than 4 months ahead of the date scheduled for the installation.
- The funding application to OZEV must be completed at least 6 weeks prior to the date of installation of the home charge system
Please note this version of the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme has now finished.
How do I claim the EVHS grant?
Once your eligibility has been established, We Power Your Car will sort out the application for you and submit it to OZEV with all of the appropriate paperwork. To do this we will first ask you a few questions about the installation to be sure that the forms are filled out correctly. This is free of charge and included as part of the service. Our installer will ask for a signature from you during the installation and that is it!
OZEV Funding for the Electric Vehicle Charging Network
In addition to allocating £1.8 billion to support greater uptake of zero emission vehicles in the form of the electric car grant, the government recently announced a further £1.3 billion to go towards funding the roll-out of charge points for electric vehicles in homes and streets across the UK and on motorways across England. It is anticipated that the Electric Vehicle Home Charge Scheme (EVHS) will help to improve air quality in towns and cities, and provide new jobs and economic growth right across the UK.
It is important that people can eventually charge their cars at home as easily and conveniently as they can currently charge their mobile phone. They also need to be able to undertake longer journeys confidently in the knowledge that there is a nationwide public charging infrastructure. In the UK, we have reached a point where public charging infrastructure increases every day but with some irregularities in geographical distribution.
Zap Map provides daily updated statistical information on the progression of the Electric Vehicle public charging network which you can see live here.
Fixed Price
We Power Your Car provide Fixed Price domestic EV charger installation throughout the UK
OZEV Funding for the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS)
One choke point in the drive to make more efficient home charging available for all is the fact that a large proportion of millennials who are likely to be the biggest up-takers of the plug-in revolution, live in accommodation that does not give them access to a private garage or off-road parking space.
One solution to this problem is the installation of on-street chargepoints which will help to provide charging facilities for people who otherwise might not have access to them.
£20 million of funding has been made available for the year 2021 to 2022 aimed at Local Authorities interested in providing this type of facility for their residents. Local authorities can receive a grant to part-fund (75%) the capital costs relating to the procurement and installation of on-street electric vehicle charging point infrastructure in residential areas.
OZEV will provide up to £6,500 per charge point installation, and each project should not exceed more than £100,000 in OZEV funding (applications up to £7,500 per charge point will be reviewed on a case by case basis).
OZEV will now pay 75% of any successful bid upfront, while the remaining 25% can be claimed on completion of the project.
We Power Your Car and OZEV funding for Electric Vehicle Charging
OZEV funding streams are now available in the following areas:
- Grants to part-fund the initial cost of purchasing an electric vehicle (the electric car grant)
- Grants to part-fund up to 75% of the cost of supply and installation of a smart home charging system (capped at £350)
- Grants available for Local Authorities to fund installation of on-street charging facilities
OZEV is the key player when it comes to delivering on the government targets for zero emission road transport. Thinking back to how similar funding was available for domestic solar energy installation and feed-back tariffs, and how over the years funding priorities have shifted away, we can be pretty sure that these large funding streams will be time-limited.
Partnering up with up with a fully OZEV authorised and accredited company like We Power Your Car to take advantage of what are currently some very significant savings makes sense. We all want greener, cleaner communities and better air quality and NOW is without question, the best time to make that all important shift.
Contact We Power Your Car
Contact We Power Your Car today for a free consultation with one of our home charging experts.