With electric vehicles continuing to gain in popularity, we felt it would be worthwhile to clarify the current position on the schemes available to support workplace and home charging.
Workplace Charging
The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) is a voucher-based scheme that provides eligible applicants with support towards the upfront costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle (EV) charge-points. The scheme is run by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) and administered by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).
The WCS is open to businesses, charities and public sector organisations that meet the applicant and site eligibility criteria.
The grant covers up to 75% of the total costs of the purchase and installation of EV charge-points (inclusive of VAT), capped at a maximum of:
- £350 per socket
- 40 sockets across all sites per applicant – for instance, if you would like to install them in 40 sites, you will have 1 socket available per site
After applying using the online application form, successful applicants are issued with a unique identification voucher code by email, which can then be given to any OZEV-authorised WCS installer.
Once the charge-point(s) have been installed, the authorised installer can claim the grant from OZEV on the applicant’s behalf. The charge-point installation must be completed and the voucher claimed within 6 months of the voucher’s issue date.
If you apply for less than 40 sockets, you can submit additional applications in the future until you reach that limit. Special rules apply for linked enterprises.
Home Charging
The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) is a grant that provides a 75% contribution to the cost of one charge point and its installation. A grant cap is set at £350 (including VAT) per installation. The main requirement is that a person owns, leases, or has ordered a qualifying vehicle and has dedicated off-street parking at their property. A person may apply for 2 charge points at the same property if they have 2 qualifying vehicles.
The grant works by a customer choosing an EVHS installer to install their charge point. The EVHS installer checks that they qualify and then applies on the customer’s behalf. The installer will bill the customer for the price of the installation, less the grant amount they have applied for. If the application is successful, the installer will be paid the grant amount that they have offset from the customer’s bill. The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles aims to process claims for experienced installers within 30 working days.
However, it’s important to be aware that from April 2022, the EVHS will no longer be open to homeowners (including people with mortgages) who live in single-unit properties such as bungalows and detached, semi-detached or terraced housing.
Installations in single-unit properties need to be completed by 31 March 2022 and a claim submitted to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) by 30 April 2022.
The scheme will remain open to:
- homeowners who live in flats
- people in rental accommodation (flats and single-use properties)
It is expected that the scheme will transition to a new digital service, details of which will be available in due course. We will provide more details as soon as we have them.