Electric vehicles (EVs) are here to stay, and are slowly replacing older, more polluting petrol and diesel transport as people opt to go electric. There are now over 1.6 million EVs on British roads, with over 20% of new car registrations being fully electric in 2025 so far (August 2025).

To support this increase of EVs on the roads, the rapidly growing network of public chargepoints is undergoing a surge. There are 82,000 charge points already available across the UK, and well over 100,000 more are planned over the next few years thanks to Government and private investment. Research from Cenex and Vauxhall shows that currently, 22.9% of British households that do not have a driveway and need a home charger are now within a four-minute walk of an EV chargepoint, compared to 19.6% of households in 2024.

The Government’s £381 million local electric vehicle infrastructure (LEVI) fund, run by the LEVI Support Body (Energy Saving Trust, Cenex and PA Consulting), is one such scheme accelerating the chargepoint roll-out. It supports local authorities with capital and capability funding to get chargepoints in areas where they are needed most.

But where did local authorities start? How have local authorities gone from zero or minimal knowledge on EVI, to experts in deploying it?

The LEVI Support Body has been administering the LEVI fund, and has developed a large library of resources, training, consultancy options and tools for local authority officers to use, supporting them with EVI capability. The number of UK councils with a dedicated policy officer for EV charging has risen by 20% in the past two years thanks to this support and the LEVI capability fund. Creating experts in local authorities who understand EVI, including how they work and where they’re needed, has had a visible impact on the rollout of chargepoints.

Over the past year alone, we at Energy Saving Trust, through the local government support programme, have shared our expertise with hundreds of local authority officers via webinars, workshops, online resources, events, reviews, forums and peer reviewing.

The LEVI team also contribute to Cenex’s National EV insight and Support (NEVIS) knowledge repository, which details the entire journey of planning and procuring EVI.

Nick Harvey, Senior Programme Manager at Energy Saving Trust, said:

“For many years, Energy Saving Trust has been a trusted source of expert advice and support for local authorities when it comes to decarbonising transport. Our team directly address knowledge gaps and uncertainty, while providing expert guidance that new and current local authority officer’s need. This is all to help them deliver more sustainable transport solutions and help their region confidently make the switch to electric vehicles.”

There are a variety of chargepoints available, and generally, the faster they charge, the more they cost to use.

Rapid chargepoints, such as those found at motorway service stations, can charge in as little as 15 minutes, but they currently cost a bit more than filling a full tank of petrol. Charging at home can get you going for a fraction of the cost.

To make the most of the cheapest charging cost, you’ll either need a public chargepoint nearby, or even better, have a home chargepoint installed and somewhere to charge your car.

Since not every home has a driveway, cross-pavement gullies can be used to embed charging cables in the pavement, but these can only be installed at the discretion of the local authority. In August 2025, a £25 million EV pavement channel grant launched in England to help local authorities get their residents connected. Shortly afterwards, a cross-pavement charging grant was launched in Scotland for eligible residents.

Energy Saving Trust continues to support government, local authorities and residents with expertise, supporting the transition to EVs with charging infrastructure and the mission to get Transport to Net Zero.