The UK government has opened the bidding process for fund managers interested in managing a £400 million fund to stimulate investment in electric vehicles across the UK.
The Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund has been established to encourage businesses to switch to vehicles with cleaner, lower emissions and follows the government’s Road to Zero strategy to have half of new cars with low emissions by 2030.
In a statement inviting Request for Proposals (RFPs), Robert Jenrick, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said the UK should be a world leader in switching to electric vehicles, adding that he wanted the opportunity to own an electric vehicle to be available to all.
He said: “Crucial to encouraging the take-up of these cars across the country is increasing people’s access to charging points. We want to scale up at pace and ensure interoperability for ease of use.
“This fund is a vital step in our mission to change the way we travel, create new jobs and protect our environment for future generations. This builds on our ambitions set out in The Road to Zero to encourage new homes to be built with charging-points.”
In the 2017 UK Budget, the Chancellor announced that a £400 million fund would be established to increase the rollout of electric vehicle changing points. The fund is comprised of up to £200 million of government investment and £200 million from the private sector.
The majority of major car manufacturers, including Ford, Rolls-Royce, Volvo and Volkswagen have committed to switching to electric vehicles over the coming decades.
