Funding has been awarded to nine local authorities across England which applied to the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) pilot scheme, launched by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles earlier this year.

The pilot is backed by £10 million of government funding, with winning pilot bids supported by an additional £9 million in private funding.

A further £1.9 million will come from public funds across local authorities.

Set up by the government to support the rollout of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, the pilot LEVI scheme supports large-scale charging infrastructure projects.

Energy Saving Trust is managing the applications to the scheme, with energy infrastructure firm Cenex and PA Consulting.

The nine successful applicants are Dorset Council, Durham County Council, Kent County Council, Lincolnshire County Council, London Borough of Barnet, North Yorkshire County Council, Nottinghamshire County Council, Suffolk County Council and Warrington Borough Council.

Decarbonisation Minister Trudy Harrison said: “We want to expand and grow our world-leading network of EV chargepoints, working closely with industry and local government, making it even easier for those without driveways to charge their EVs and support the switch to cleaner travel.”

Hugh Pickerill, Programme Manager for EV Grants and Infrastructure at Energy Saving Trust, said: “This is a pioneering scheme that will support access to convenient and reliable EV charging for everyone.”