If you own an electric car, the government are offering to help with the cost of a home charging system through their OLEV grant.
The Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) is a government-funded department. They offers a wide range of grant support schemes for the installation of electric and hybrid vehicle chargers, both in private homes and in the workplace.
You can claim up to 75% of the costs of your home vehicle charger using the OLEV grant, whether you own your car, lease it, or it is a company-owned vehicle.
There is a catch however, and that is that you have off-street parking.
What is an OLEV grant?
The OLEV grant may also be referred to as the Electric Vehicle Home charge Scheme (EVHS) and qualifying applicants receive £500 towards the costs of buying and fitting a home charging station.
Most electric cars and hybrid cars will qualify for this grant and it’s possible to claim for one charging point per vehicle.
Up to two charging points are allowed per household, so if you own two electric or hybrid vehicles, you will be able to claim the OLEV grant for each of them.
How do you qualify?
In order to qualify for the OLEV grant, your vehicle must have been purchased after 1 April 2015 and you will need to have off-street parking at your home.
Any grant that is given must be utilised with an OLEV-approved fitter for the installation of your home charging point.
Any application for the OLEV grant must be accompanied by a customer declaration to provide all the essential evidence required, this form is attached to the Guidance for Customers which is dated May 2018.
Applying for the grant is really easy, as you will just need to get in touch with one of the OLEV-approved installation companies and complete your customer declaration through them.
Vehicles that are eligible for the OLEV grant:
Vehicles that qualify for the OLEV grant need to have been approved as ultra-low emission cars and this includes vehicles that used to be eligible for the plug-in car grant.
A full list of vehicles eligible for the OLEV grant can be sourced on the government website. Some of the eligible cars include:
• Audi A3 e-tron
• BMW 225xe
• Chevrolet Volt
• Citroen cZero
• Electric Ford Focus
• Hyundai IONIC Phev
• Jaguar I-PACE
• Kia Soul EV
• Mercedes Benz B Class Electric Drive
• Mitsubishi iMiEV
• Mini Countryman PHEV
• Peugeot iON
• Tesla Model X
• Volkswagen e-Golf
• Volvo D60 D6 Twin Engine
Some of the eligible vans include:
• BD Otomotiv e-Traffic
• Citroen Berlingo
• Renault Kangoo ZE
• Peugeot ePartner
Eligible taxis include the LEVC TX.
Workplace charging scheme
If you want to encourage your employer to install an EV charging point the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) is available for businesses and is a voucher-based scheme.
WCS gives companies support towards the upfront costs they incur in the purchasing and fitting of electric charging points. This grant is available to businesses, public sector organisations and charities.
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