MP for Chipping Barnet, Theresa Villiers, has welcomed the news from Transport Minister Trudy Harrison that the Government will provide over £1.5 million to increase the number of charging points for electric vehicles in Barnet.
The borough is one of nine local authorities around the country which has been successful in securing funding from the Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund Pilot, launched in March this year. Following an application by the previous Conservative administration, Barnet Council will receive £1,650,000 from the £10m fund.
“This is good news for my constituents who want to switch to cleaner greener driving,” Theresa said in response to the announcement.
“A massive expansion of the charging network for electric vehicles is essential if we are going to meet our goals on protecting our climate and improving air quality. We will only be able to decarbonise our car fleet if people have the confidence that they can power up their vehicles easily and conveniently.”
“This Government funding is a helpful step towards a greener future for our borough. We will get over 16% of the total money available from this national pilot and we are the only London Borough to succeed in its bid. I thank the outgoing Conservative administration for putting together the successful application.”
This LEVI pilot project is expected to deliver 100 public electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints and related infrastructure in each local authority area which has been successful in its bid.
The initial £10m portfolio of projects will deliver over 1100 chargepoints and bring in nearly £9m in private investment. It will also provide learning, data, and information to support the design of the full £450m LEVI scheme which is due to launch next year.
