The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) is a team working across different Government departments to support the growth in electric vehicles over the coming decades. Central to their activities is promoting the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. To do this they offer grants for home EV chargers and workplace EV charge points, known as OLEV grants.
What is the OLEV Grant?
The OLEV grant, also known as the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, is a UK government initiative that provides a grant to homeowners to help cover the cost of installing an electric vehicle (EV) charge point at their home. The scheme is managed by the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), a cross-government team that aims to promote the uptake of low emission vehicles in the UK.
Under the OLEV grant scheme, eligible homeowners can receive a grant of up to 75% of the total cost of installing an EV charge point at their home, up to a maximum of £350 (including VAT). This can significantly reduce the cost of installing an EV charge point and make it more accessible for homeowners looking to switch to electric vehicles.
Grants for home EV chargers
All evidence suggests that EV owners will carry out the majority of charging whilst at home. To support this, the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme provides grants up to £350 (inc VAT) for the installation of EV charge points at home, subject to eligibility criteria, which relate to the vehicle, chargepoint, installer and home.
OLEV grant eligibility for home EV chargers
- The charge point must be for an eligible vehicle which covers full EVs and plug-in hybrids.
- You must be the registered owner, long term leaser (> more than 6 months) or have primary access to an electric vehicle to qualify for this OLEV grant.
- The grants can be claimed by installers that have been authorised by OLEV; Joju are approved OLEV installers.
- The installer must have approval from the charge point manufacturer to install their equipment. Joju are OLEV approved to install eo chargepoints, New Motion and Zappi devices.
- You must have suitable off-street parking for hosting the chargepoint, such as a wall mounted charge point in a garage, or a post system on a driveway. If you do not have off street parking, your Local Authority may be able to help via a central Government grant to install charging infrastructure.
- The Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme grant is limited to one car charging point installation at a domestic residence per eligible vehicle, up to a maximum of two charge points at a single residence. Second charge points require some checks from your installer to ensure they will not overload the fuse board, if both are running at once.
In order to access the grants, there is a series of three declaration forms to fill in. We know this can be a bit of a hassle, so we will undertake as much as possible on your behalf. OLEV are trying to reduce the risk of fraud, hence the need for such an onerous system. But to make things easier for you:
- Once you have a confirmed EV purchase, we send you the required documentation and an explanation email. There are 3 parts to the grant application.
- You will need to fill in Part A, which requires your contact details and covers the eligibility criteria outlined above. You will need to provide evidence of ownership or leasing of the EV.
- Part B is the price breakdown of the installation, which is pre-filled by us and approved by the customer with the engineer on the day of installation. We will need your signature on this document.
- Part C is the OLEV installer declaration, completed and signed by the engineer, to claim that the work was done within the eligibility criteria. We will also need your signature here.
- In terms of payments, you only pay the balance owed after the grant, so you are not left out of pocket until the grant comes through. We will then receive the grant payment, once approved.
Grants for EV chargers at Work
OLEV also offers government grants for electric car charging points at work via the Workplace Charging Scheme. It offers a contribution of £350 for each chargepoint installed, up to a maximum of 20, across all sites.
In order to be eligible for a workplace car charging point installation, you must:
- Be a registered business, charity, or public sector organisation
- Declare a need for electric vehicle charging equipment or an intent to encourage uptake among their staff and/or fleet.
- Have dedicated off-street parking for staff or fleets of company cars. You will need to supply evidence that this parking is solely for staff or fleet use, via a company parking policy or photographs.
- Be willing to provide chargepoint use data back to OLEV to inform their future policy.
Upon a successful application, your company will be issued with a voucher, valid for 120 days. Once installed, we then claim the grant back from OLEV, using the voucher.
Joju are currently approved to install New Motion and eo chargepoints under the Workplace Charging Scheme.
The OLEV home and workplace electric car charging point grants should not be confused with the The Office for Low Emission vehicles scheme which applies a grant for purchasing a new electric vehicle, known as a Plug-in vehicle grant. This electric car grant scheme is handled by the vehicle dealership and manufacturers; so, as a customer, you will have no direct access or involvement with a government grant for electric vehicles when you purchase an EV.
