Grant Funding for Electric Vehicle Charge Points

Are you thinking of buying an electric vehicle (EV)? Did you know that there is funding available to help cover the costs of installing your home charge point through the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS).

What are the benefits of a home charge point?

Your EV charge point can be installed in your garage or on your driveway meaning it is convenient for you to charge your vehicle where it is parked. Once at your home charging point, you do not have to move your car to charge, you do not have to drag leads around or swap plugs before charging your vehicle.

An EV charge point communicates directly with your car, making charging at home much safer than charging through a standard 3-pin socket. They are completely weather and waterproof, making them safe to place outside. All charge points have built in safety features and switch off once your vehicle is fully charged, so there is no risk of overheating or the sockets burning out. They are also wired directly into your fuse box, placing no additional load on other wiring or circuits.

Installing an at home charge point, instead of using a 3-pin socket, reduces the charging time of your vehicle by 30-60% (depending on the car), making charging at home much quicker than a public slow charge point.

When you charge at home you only pay for your own household electricity, unlike at a public charge point where you could pay for registration, subscription and connection fees may apply to charge your vehicle. Read on to find out about energy tariffs specifically for EV households.

What is the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS)?

The EVHS was introduced to assist the registered keeper, lessee or primary user of an eligible EV to receive financial assistant for the installation cost of a home charge point. Through the scheme, the resident may receive up to 75% (capped at £500 Inc. VAT) off the total cost of the charge point and associated installation costs. The remaining cost is to be met and agreed with the installer prior to the installation.

The EVHS grant is limited to 1 installation at a domestic residence per eligible vehicle and up to a maximum of 2 charge points at a single residence. The property must be in the UK and the eligible vehicle must be registered in the UK.

What are the eligibility criteria for the EVHS?

The individual:

• An individual who has taken keepership of a new or second hand eligible electric vehicles on or after 1 October 2016 as long as they have not claimed against the previous charge point scheme.
• An individual who is assigned an EV company car for at least 6 months on or after 1 October 2016.
• An individual who has leased an eligible vehicle for at least 6 months on or after 1 October 2016.
• An individual who has leased the vehicles as part of a salary-sacrifice scheme from 1 October 2016 onwards.
• An individual who is named by their employer as the primary user of an eligible EV for at least 6 months on or after 1 October 2016. (If the named individual changes within six months, a second grant cannot be claimed).

Taking possession & property

• An individual who can prove that they have ordered an eligible EV and the vehicles will be received on or after 1 October 2016.
• The date of the installation of the charge point must not be more than 4 months ahead of the date of delivery or date the customer becomes the registered keeper/nominated user/lessee of the EV.
• The property must have designated private off-street parking with good access for an eligible vehicle to be charged safely
  • The customer must always be able to access the designated private off-street parking space
  • Any 3^rd party permission must be obtained by the customer when necessary.

The model of the home charge point must be on the approved Office for Low Emissions Vehicles (OLEV) charge point model list and be installed by an approved OLEV installer. Under the EVHS scheme, 3-pin charge point sockets are not eligible for the grant.

What vehicles are eligible under the EVHS?

The EV must appear on the OLEV eligibility list for the Plug-in Car Grant, Plug-in Van Grant, Plug-in Taxi Grant or the list of EVHS eligible vehicles.

What if your property doesn’t have off-street parking?

If the property does not have off-street parking, your Local Authority may be able to help via a central Government grant to install recharging infrastructure. Find out more information about this grant here.

Making the most of your home charge point with an energy EV tariff:

Currently, there are a few energy companies which are offering EV tariffs tailored towards EV-owning households. Zap-Map have put together a summary of the energy companies offering EV tariffs:

• British Gas – Electric Drivers Energy Plan Sep 2021
• Ecotricity – Fully Charger
• EDF Energy – GoElectric Jan 2021
• E.ON – Fix and Drive
• Good Energy – EV Driver 3
• Octopus Energy – Octopus Go
• OVO Energy – EV Everywhere
• Sottish Power – SmartPower EV
• Tonik – Charge EV

It is always a good idea to compare energy tariffs to see which is the best for you. You can compare energy tariffs at an Ofgem approved switch site, for example, uSwitch, Money Supermarket or Energy Helpline.

_{All information from:}

1. _{www.iddea.co.uk/5-reasons-home-charge-points-for-electric-cars-are-better-than-3-pin-sockets/}
2. _{www.gov.uk/government/collections/government-grants-for-low-emission-vehicles}
3. _{www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/855789/electric-vehicles-homecharge-scheme-eligible-vehicles.csv/preview}
4. _{www.gov.uk/government/publications/electric-vehicle-homecharge-scheme-approved-charge point-model-list}
5. _{www.gov.uk/government/publications/electric-vehicle-homecharge-scheme-authorised-installers}
6. _{www.edfenergy.com/electric-cars/costs}
7. _{www.zap-map.com/charge-points/ev-energy-tariffs/}