Government has urged councils to take up £4.5m for electric vehicle chargers that appears to be going begging.
The scheme launched in 2016. It enables councils to claim up to 75% of the cost of infrastructure for on-street charging. But only five local authorities have applied to date.
Energy minister Claire Perry said that a lack of on-street charging infrastructure denies an opportunity to around a third of UK homes which do not have off-street parking.
Perry and transport department under secretary of state, Jesse Norman, have written to councils urging them to take the money.
Meanwhile, the government has extended current grant rates for both the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, and Plug-in Car Grant which provides up to £4,500 to help motorists make the switch to electric.
As well as cutting carbon emissions, both carmakers and energy companies believe EVs could help maintain power grid stability if their batteries can be harnessed while plugged in to chargers.
However, there are mixed opinions about whether that scenario will materialise.
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Remember that it was the U.K. government that deliberately set out to block EV chargers being mandated under the revised European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. Joined up Government??