Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced a substantial £65 million investment to boost the roll-out of electric car charging points.
Connected Kerb, the London-based EV infrastructure specialist, will receive the money, helping to support its ambitious plans to expand public charger access.
The National Wealth Fund (NWF), formerly known as the UK Infrastructure Bank, will provide £55 million of the money pledged for EV charging provision.
A further £10 million of funding for Connected Kerb will come from Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc.
Bringing charging to the kerbside
Last year, registrations of new electric cars increased by 21 percent in the UK, while the provision of EV charging devices grew by 38 percent according to data from ZapMap. However, the total number of 73,699 public chargers is remains well short of the government’s target of 300,000 by 2030.
Connected Kerb aims to grow its charging network from 9,000 charging sockets at present to a substantial 40,000 across the UK.
Unlike (150kW+) rapid-charging EV devices, which grew in number by 84 percent during 2024, Connected Kerb is focused on slower 7-22kW chargers.
Typically placed on urban streets, Connected Kerb’s devices aim to help address the challenges of EV ownership faced by the 55 percent of people without access to dedicated off-street parking.
Helping those without a driveway
Following the Chancellor’s announcement, Chris Pateman-Jones, CEO of Connected Kerb, said: “This investment combines Connected Kerb’s proven hardware and advanced software infrastructure with the financial resources of NWF and Aviva to deploy public charging at scale, to all corners of the UK.
“This is a game-changing investment that will give individuals and businesses the confidence to make the switch to driving electric, dramatically reducing carbon emissions and air pollution. We are delighted to have such high-profile investors who are deeply aligned with our sustainability and ethical goals.”
John Flint of the National Wealth Fund said: “To get to net zero, we need to make it as easy as possible for people to change the way they do things. Providing convenient and reliable on-street charging is key to helping those without driveways make the switch to electric vehicles.
“Our investment in Connected Kerb will support one of the UK’s leading public charge point operators to continue its network expansion and deploy this much-needed EV charging infrastructure at pace and at scale to homes and businesses across the country.”
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