Barnet Council awarded £3.5m to install 500 EV charge points in 2022

Barnet Council has secured over £3.5m in grant funding to deliver 500 on-street electric vehicle charge points by November 2022.

Barnet currently has the second highest rate of electric car ownership in London and the grant from the Office of Zero Emissions Vehicles (OZEV) will see the charge points installed in 34 of Barnet’s residential streets by November 2022.

The £3.5m grant from the On-Street Residential Charge Point Scheme (ORCS) is the largest sum awarded to any local authority by the scheme to date and covers 75% of the expected project costs, the maximum available.

The ORCS funds local authorities to provide public charge points for residents who do not have access to off-street parking.

The remaining 25% of costs will either be funded by the council, a commercial partner, or in a part-funding agreement, reaching a total project value of £4.65m.

The 34 streets have been selected based on resident request, suitability for installing on-street charge points and where off-street parking is not possible.

Cllr Cohen, chairman of the Barnet Council Environment Committee, said: “As we approach 2030 – the Government’s target of no new sales of petrol or diesel cars – demand for electric vehicles will continue to boom year on year.

“We welcome this major funding from the ORCS as it will allow us to greatly expand Barnet’s infrastructure for electric vehicle charge points and help ensure that lack of access to off-street parking is not a barrier to owning an electric vehicle for our residents.

“Enhanced access to on-street charging will help to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles, improve air quality in Barnet, and play a fundamental role in achieving the commitments in our forthcoming Sustainability Strategy.”