What is the workplace EV charging grant?

In December 2020, the UK government updated its Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS), wherein they help businesses with the costs of purchasing and installing charging equipment for electric vehicles.

This will be paid out in the form of a voucher worth 75% of the total cost of purchasing and completing the installation, capped to a minimum of £350 per charging socket.

Looking to trade out your company cars for electric vehicles, or already have a fleet? This could save you some serious money and make your business more valuable to boot! It’s really easy to do, too. Check it out!

How To Qualify

In order to claim through the WCS, you must meet all of the following criteria:

• Be a registered business, charity or public sector organisation with a Companies house reference number, VAT registration number, or HMRC registration letter
• Be a public authority, or have received less than 200,000 Euro in public support during the last three fiscal years, satisfying eligibility for what is known as de minimis aid
• Be able to declare your need for electric vehicle charging equipment/intentions to need it in the future
• Have dedicated off-street parking for members of staff/fleets of vehicles
• Be located in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland
• Own your business property or have written consent from your landlord for the charge points to be installed

How To Claim

If you believe you are eligible for this grant, simply head over to the Gov.uk online application portal and fill out the form.

Information you will need to provide includes your contact details, evidence of your eligibility to claim from the scheme, details of the installation site, declaration of the current need for a charging point, and conditions for use of them once installed.

You will also have to legally declare that you are eligible for state aid, so make sure you’re positive that this grant is for you before you try and claim it. Remember, this is a government-funded scheme, so they take things pretty seriously.

After some quick eligibility background checks have been completed, successful applicants will then receive an email with a unique voucher code.

This can then be used towards the purchase of equipment from any OZEV authorised WCS installer you’d like. Once the charging points are all in place, the installer can then claim the money back from the grant via OZEV using the online installer portal, which they should be familiar with.

Your voucher is valid for 180 days, six months from the date you receive the email, with an expiry date printed clearly on the voucher itself.

Remember, only an authorised OZEV installer with approval from verified chargepoint manufacturers can claim the voucher back on your behalf. Make sure you see evidence of this before you agree to hire them!

To simplify the process, it looks something like this:

1. You complete the online application

2. Voucher is generated (if eligible)

3. Installer completes the work

4. Installer claims money back via the portal

5. Exact value of grant level confirmed – up to 75% of total costs, capped at £350 per charging point

6. Installer receives grant

What are the benefits?

Huge Discount: if the government is offering you a massive reduction in the cost of carrying out vital installations that will only improve your business and the experiences of customers, why on Earth wouldn’t you take it? It’s like saying no to free money! Particularly when you’re installing more than one charge point, as the cap is £350 per PLUG, not per business. That’s thousands in savings if you’ve got a lot of vehicles to charge!

Cheaper Than Petrol: once you make the switch to an electric vehicle (if you haven’t already!) not only is it far cheaper than buying petrol multiple times a week to charge your car at work – your electricity bill won’t even increase by that much! –  but it’s also way easier and more efficient than speeding to the station when you’re running on fumes. Make sure your car is ready to rock and roll… from the comfort of your office!

Environmentally Friendly: the more people driving electric vehicles, the better! It might not sound like much, but this one simple change has a huge effect on the environment – just one or two cars off the road is effective, but when you switch your entire fleet of vans out for some shiny new electric ones, you’re basically single handedly saving the world! Okay, maybe not, but still… our planet will thank you!

Where to find an approved OLEV installer

Look no further! AMS Solutions provide installation services for Workplace EV Charging Points in Manchester and the surrounding areas in the North-West. Want to know more? Get in touch with our friendly team today and we will be more than happy to answer any questions.