A SCHEME to deliver close to 2,000 electric vehicle charging points in Devon has been given the green light by Devon County Council (DCC).

DCC’s approval of the scheme follows the Government awarding the council more than £7m funding to deliver thousands of new publicly accessible EV charging points up to 2030. 

The award, from the Department for Transport’s Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund, was one of the largest of its kind in the country. 

The funding announcement follows DCC’s adoption of the Devon Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy last year, which highlights that a key barrier to the uptake of EVs in Devon is the availability of suitable charging infrastructure. 

The LEVI project is set to begin in 2025 and will significantly expand on an already growing network of on and off-street EV charging points in Devon.

Two schemes DCC led have already delivered more than 300 charging point sockets across Devon and Torbay.

These have been provided through both external funding and private sector investment in partnership with East Devon, Exeter, Mid Devon, North Devon, Teignbridge, Torbay and West Devon Councils. 

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Cabinet Member for Highway Management, said: ‘With the sale of EV’s increasing it is important that charging infrastructure is readily available to further support the shift towards decarbonising on-road transportation.

‘An increasing number of car parks in Devon now have EV chargepoints in place, but for those in rural areas or without a front drive, access to charging points remains a barrier.’

Councillor Andrea Davis, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport, said: ‘On road transportation makes up more than a quarter of Devon’s carbon emissions and the decarbonisation of transport is a crucial part of our response to the climate emergency.

‘The size of the award from Government recognised the unique challenges of delivering EV infrastructure in rural Devon.

‘This scheme will help ensure that EV infrastructure is accessible in smaller communities and outside people’s homes.’