The UK government will invest £65 million to expand the nation’s public EV charging infrastructure through Connected Kerb, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced.
The National Wealth Fund will provide £55 million, with Aviva contributing an additional £10 million. This funding aims to increase Connected Kerb’s kerbside charger network from 9,000 to 40,000 devices by 2040.
Connected Kerb specializes in AC kerbside charging — slower chargers that let residents without driveways charge their vehicles overnight.
Reeves called the investment “crucial” to meeting the government’s target of 300,000 public EV chargers by 2030.
The UK’s public charging network expanded by nearly 40% in 2023, adding more than 20,000 new devices. This growth supports the planned phase-out of internal combustion engine vehicles from 2030.
“Support for kerbside charging is critical to ensure nobody is left behind on the UK’s electrification journey, with millions of drivers without access to driveways reliant on an effective public charging network,” said Vauxhall Managing Director James Taylor.
Taylor noted that while EV adoption grew 21% in 2024 and public charging points increased 38%, most on-street residential chargers remain concentrated in London.
ChargeUK CEO Vicky Read welcomed the announcement, highlighting the industry’s commitment to £6 billion in infrastructure investment through 2030.
“To secure this funding, and ensure it has maximum impact on the UK’s growth agenda and clear energy ambitions, we need to see existing EV sales quotas confirmed, barriers to charge point deployment, such as slow grid connections, addressed, and steps taken to ensure drivers can charge affordably, including equalising VAT on home and public charging,” Read said.
The investment comes at a critical time as the UK works to build charging infrastructure ahead of growing EV adoption rates.
