- Scheme set up last year meant councils only pay one quarter of cost of chargers
- Only Portsmouth, Kensington, Chelsea, Cambridge, Luton and Kettering applied
- Department for Transport described the low uptake as ‘extremely disappointing’
Just five councils have applied for a government grant to pay for electric vehicle charging points, it emerged yesterday.
The fund was set up more than a year ago to build infrastructure for electric vehicles and means councils would have to cover just a quarter of the cost of installing a charge point on their streets.
However, only Portsmouth, Kensington and Chelsea in London, Cambridge, Luton and Kettering councils have used the scheme so far.
Just five councils have applied for a government grant to pay for electric vehicle charging points, it emerged yesterday
Fund to build infrastructure for electric vehicles means councils would have to cover just a quarter of the cost of installing a charge point on their streets. However, only Portsmouth, Kensington and Chelsea in London, Cambridge, Luton and Kettering councils have used the scheme so far
Some £150,000 has been allocated to two councils, Portsmouth and Kensington, while applications from the others are still being processed. The Department for Transport described the low uptake as ‘extremely disappointing’, and said drivers were being ‘denied the opportunity to take advantage of the technology’.
Roads minister Jesse Norman and business minister Claire Perry wrote to councils urging them to take advantage of the £4.5million fund.
But Martin Tett, transport spokesman for the Local Government Association, said councils ‘cannot take on the role of replacing petrol stations’ and that it is the private sector’s responsibility.