The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has announced an additional £2.5m funding to install over 1,000 new chargepoints for electric vehichles.

The funding will support the on-street residential chargepoint scheme, launched in 2017, which helps people access charging infrastructure near their homes when they don’t have off-street parking. 

Ministers say the additional funding will go towards helping local authorities install these chargepoints, which can be built into existing structures like lamp-posts. The scheme aims to encourage even more people to choose an electric vehicle by making it easier to charge their cars near home, following a 158% increase in battery electric vehicle sales compared to July last year.

The government say the scheme has already seen 16 local authorities prepared to install 1,200 chargepoints this year, and the transport secretary is now doubling funding to accelerate the take-up of electric vehicles, as the UK moves towards net zero emissions by 2050.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps said: “It’s vital that electric vehicle drivers feel confident about the availability of chargepoints near their homes, and that charging an electric car is seen as easy as plugging in a smartphone. That’s why we are now doubling the funding available for local authorities to continue building the infrastructure we need to super-charge the zero emission revolution right across the country.”

The funding for on-street residential chargepoints is part of the £1.5bn investment underpinned by the Road to Zero Strategy, supporting the move towards a cleaner, greener, accessible and reliable UK transport network.

As part of this, the government is also investing £37m into British engineering to develop electric chargepoint infrastructure that could rapidly expand the UK chargepoint network for people without off-street parking.