Posted on: 25th October 2018
Categories: Charging news, Commercial charging

Sussex Businesses Eligible for Electric Vehicle Workplace Charging Scheme

Back in July, the government launched its “Road to Zero Strategy” to encourage the design, manufacture and adoption of zero emission vehicles across the UK. The target is for ‘all new cars and vans to be effectively zero emission by 2040’.

But Sussex companies may not be aware that they can now claim £500 per socket to have electric vehicle charging points installed at their workplace.

One of the measures included in the government’s Workplace Charging Scheme (WSC) has been to increase the level of grant funds available under the scheme from £300 per socket to 75% of the purchase and installation costs of a chargepoint capped at a maximum of £500 per socket.

The grant is available for to 20 charge points per applicant, across all sites. The maximum that can be claimed is £10,000 per business (all amounts are inclusive of VAT).

Is your business eligible?

  • Businesses, charities and local authorities which can declare a need for electric vehicle charging or an intent to encourage uptake of electric vehicles among their staff or company fleet.
  • Your business must be located in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
  • The scheme is designed for off-street parking with chargers for the use of employees or staff fleet.
  • It is not designed for commercial car parks, public parking or for retail outlets or hotels with guest parking.
  • The charging sockets must be installed by an OLEV approved installer such as EVelec Ltd

For further information visit the government Workplace Charging Scheme web page.

How do you claim the WCS Grant?

If you are a Sussex business looking to install electric vehicle charge points at your premises, here are the key points for getting started:

Electric vehicle chargepoint

  • WCS is a voucher-based scheme operated by a scheme administrator (the DVLA). You can only claim one voucher.
  • If eligibility checks are successful, you will be issued with a unique identification voucher code via email. This can then be given to your OLEV-authorised WCS installer.
  • The voucher will only be valid for four months (120 days) from the date of issue – however you can cancel and re-apply.
  • Once the chargepoint(s) have been installed, the authorised installer will claim the grant from OLEV on your behalf by submitting a claim form via OLEV’s portal.
  • A voucher can only be redeemed by installers who have been authorised by OLEV for the WCS. They must also be approved by a chargepoint manufacturer to install their chargepoint models.
  • The chargepoint installation must be completed and the voucher claimed within the four-month period. Claims against expired vouchers will not be paid.

For more information about electric vehicle charge points for commercial premises, visit our information page here on EV charging for businesses.