Leicestershire County Council have secured £1 million in funding from the government for public electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints.

The council is part of a consortium, along with four other authorities across the Midlands.

County councillors recently approved a new strategy for EVs and in collaboration with chargepoint operator Wenea, work can start on delivering new chargepoints at on-street locations across the county as part of the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot project.

Councillor Ozzy O’Shea, county council cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “With EV ownership growing rapidly in Leicestershire, we need a chargepoint network that can keep up. Many of our residents don’t have access to a driveway – but this shouldn’t be a barrier to making the switch to electric.

“Working with Wenea to roll out an innovative on-street chargepoint network which meets the needs of our communities is a huge step forward in the council’s journey towards a carbon neutral future.”

This work will provide a complete charging system, starting from network design and deployment through to operation of the charging infrastructure. It will be Leicestershire’s first public on-street EV charging infrastructure.

The project’s main aim is making EV charging accessible to a wider range of residents within the county, especially to those without access to off-street parking. Chargepoints will be strategically placed to best serve the needs of local communities and meet growing demand, based on feedback from residents and careful research.

A roll-out of chargepoints is planned from 2025 onwards, with more detail on locations to be released closer to the time.