Fund manager sought for £400m EV charging cash

The government has opened up bidding for a fund manager to oversee its £400 million Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund.

The fund will enable businesses to access the finances they need to build more charging points to help the public switch to cleaner, ultra-low emission cars.

The Request for Proposals (RFP) sets out the Treasury’s requirements and the necessary information for fund managers to submit a bid. The successful fund manager will be appointed to raise and manage this investment fund on behalf of the Treasury.

The bidding process follows the launch of the Road to Zero Strategy which sets out the government’s long term plan to have at least half of new cars be ultra-low emission by 2030 and all new cars and vans be effectively zero emissions by 2040.

The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Robert Jenrick, said: “We want the UK to be a world leader when it comes to the number of electric cars on our roads. Uptake is increasing and we want the opportunity to own an electric vehicle to be available to all.

“But crucial to encouraging the take-up of these cars across the country is increasing people’s access to charging points. We want to scale up at pace and ensure interoperability for ease of use.

“This fund is a vital step in our mission to change the way we travel, create new jobs and protect our environment for future generations.

“This builds on our ambitions set out in The Road to Zero to encourage new homes to be built with charging-points.”

The Chancellor announced at Budget 2017 the new £400 million fund to increase the rollout of electric vehicle charging points and catalyse the available financing market. The fund is made up of £200 million of government investment, which is to be matched by another £200 million from the private sector.