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Accelerating the UK’s shift to electric vehicles

By Talk Power Team | Posted January 07, 2020

If you’re a business looking to switch to clean, low emission electric vehicles, you may want to look into how the government can support you. The UK’s Office For Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) provide a number of grants and schemes to help an individual or business buy an EV or install charging points, to help in our transition towards Net Zero.

The Workplace Charging Scheme offers financial support towards the up-front costs of buying and installing electric vehicle charge points at the workplace. It is a voucher based scheme which can cover costs of up to £500 towards each charge point. And you can apply for funding for up to 20 EV chargers across all of your sites.

Any business, charity of public sector organisation can apply for the grant – all you have to do is declare a need for EV charging equipment or an intent to encourage EV use among staff or fleet. You’ll also need dedicated off street parking and landlord consent if you don’t own the property.

How to apply

You can apply online and receive a voucher, which is valid for four months. Your approved installer will then complete the work on your electric car charger and submit a claim on the WCS portal. They then receive the grant of up to 75%, to a maximum of £500, towards the cost.

Success stories

Organisations, such as Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, are already reaping the benefits of switching to an electric fleet. The Trust is saving the equivalent of two nurses’ salaries per year from the fleet’s lower operational costs coupled with its solar PV system. Watch our video here.

And there’s more

Additionally, the Plug-in Car Grant subsidises the cost of electric cars by up to £3,500. The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme offers similar funding towards the cost of a charge point for the home. And the On Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme provides grant funding for local authorities towards the cost of installing on-street residential electric car chargers.

Why go electric?

1) To save money

EVs are also a lot cheaper to maintain, mainly because they have fewer moving parts than a conventional fossil fuel-powered vehicle. Electric vehicles enjoy tax benefits including Benefit In Kind (company car tax), road tax and congestion charge exemptions, as well as government funding which could be available to you to help with the upfront costs of going electric.

2) To future-proof your business

The government has committed to phase out diesel and petrol cars by 2040 to help tackle global climate change.  As the Grid adapts to be more flexible, EV owners can gain additional financial benefits through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology which enables EV’s to feed unused electricity back into the grid network through their batteries during peak hours and charge when there’s less energy demand.

3) For a smarter, cleaner, healthier lifestyle

EVs encourage sustainable living and are an enjoyable and real-world solution to the challenge of vehicle emissions and air quality. Businesses can also boast their green credentials by lowering their carbon footprint through EVs.

Start your journey today 

Here at EDF Energy, we’re committed to a low-carbon future and are here to help make your business more sustainable by going electric. We offer a one stop shop for charging options, vehicle to grid (V2G) solutions and leasing. 

Speak to us today about EV fleet and charge point options to suit your business needs, and make the most of the government support that is available.

View our Electric Adventure films here 

Find out about our electric vehicle solutions for business 

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