EV Infrastructure Grant: What UK Businesses Can Claim in 2026
The EV infrastructure grant for staff and fleets is no longer open to new applications. If you are searching for it in October 2026, the funding you can realistically use is the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) for most workplaces and schools, or the Depot Charging Scheme (DCS) for qualifying van, HGV and coach depots. This guide explains what changed, what each scheme pays, who qualifies and how to avoid the mistakes that cost businesses their funding.
TL;DR
The commercial EV infrastructure grants (staff and fleets, commercial landlord and landlord infrastructure) closed to claims on 26 May 2026. Older articles that tell you to combine them with WCS are out of date.
WCS covers up to 75% of eligible purchase and installation costs, capped at £500 per socket, for up to 40 sockets across all your sites. It runs until 31 March 2027.
Schools and education institutions use a separate WCS route worth up to £2,000 per socket.
The Depot Charging Scheme is aimed at commercial depots. Its next application window is expected to open on 28 October 2026, but terms are not yet confirmed.
Survey first, get landlord consent, and agree the evidence you will collect with your installer before groundworks begin.
Table of Contents
What happened to the EV infrastructure grant
For several years, businesses could pair the Workplace Charging Scheme with a separate EV infrastructure grant. That grant helped cover the wider groundwork behind the chargers: cabling, trenching, connection upgrades and similar civil costs. It came in three forms: staff and fleets, commercial landlords, and landlord infrastructure.
Under the 1 April 2026 changes to the chargepoint grant schemes, OZEV streamlined its portfolio and extended the remaining workplace funding for a final year. The three infrastructure routes closed to claims on 26 May 2026. Current guidance lists WCS as the workplace grant available until 31 March 2027.
What does that mean in practice?
If you have not applied yet, do not budget for the old infrastructure grant. Plan around WCS or DCS.
If you already have an application in progress, check with your installer whether only a claim or evidence deadline remains. Do not assume more funding can be added.
If a website still quotes figures such as £15,000 for staff and fleets, treat it as historical. Those figures describe a scheme you can no longer apply to.
The loss of the infrastructure grant matters because the grant now covers a smaller share of a typical project. Chargepoint hardware is only part of the bill. Electrical upgrades, civil works and load management often cost more, which is why planning the whole site matters more than ever.
Workplace Charging Scheme: what you can claim
According to GOV.UK’s Find a Grant listing, WCS gives eligible businesses, charities, public-sector organisations and small accommodation businesses up to 75% of the eligible purchase and installation costs. The cap is £500 per socket for installations completed on or after 1 April 2026. Installations completed before that date were capped at £350.
You can claim for up to 40 sockets across all your sites. The scheme applies in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but not in the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. It closes on 31 March 2027.
A worked example
Say you want 10 dual-socket chargers, which is 20 sockets, at an office car park. The most you could receive is 20 × £500 = £10,000, and only if 75% of your eligible costs for those sockets reaches that figure. If the eligible cost per socket is lower, the grant is lower. Whatever the total, it is a contribution. It is not a promise to fund the whole project.
That is the key point for budgeting. WCS is a per-socket contribution. It does not guarantee funding for:
grid reinforcement or major electrical upgrades;
software, back-office licences or maintenance;
rapid-charging equipment.
We cover realistic project budgets in our guides to EV charger installation costs for UK workplaces and fleets and commercial EV charger installation costs. For the scheme itself, see our Workplace Charging Scheme guide for UK employers.
Who is eligible for WCS
The scheme rules set out a handful of tests. Check each one before you spend anything.
Ownership or consent. You own the site, or your landlord has given written consent.
Dedicated off-road parking associated with the premises.
Suitable designated spaces for the chargers.
Staff or fleet use. You need evidence that the spaces serve staff or fleet vehicles, not solely customers.
That last test catches many hospitality and leisure businesses. A site that exists only to serve visitors is a destination or public charging project, and it should not assume WCS applies just because it sits on commercial land. If that describes you, look at public EV charging or hosting chargers on your land or site, where revenue models can replace grant funding.
Opening workplace chargers to local residents outside office hours is allowed when staff or fleet vehicles would not normally use them. Be aware that public use can trigger obligations under the Public Chargepoint Regulations 2023, so settle that question before you commission the design.
If you are unsure where you stand, our EV charging grants eligibility checker is a quick first step.
Schools and education: up to £2,000 per socket
State-funded schools and education institutions have their own WCS route. GOV.UK’s chargepoint grants guidance lists up to £2,000 per socket, for applications covering up to 40 sockets across all sites, with the same closing date of 31 March 2027.
This is four times the standard business cap, so make sure you use the education-specific guidance and do not assume the £500 limit applies. Our guide to claiming £2,000 per socket for school EV charging walks through the practical steps for governors and bursars.
Depot Charging Scheme: the fleet route
WCS is built for workplaces. A haulage yard or coach depot has very different needs, and the government has a separate fund for it. The Depot Charging Scheme listing describes a £170 million multi-year programme running from April 2026 to 2030.
What the first window offered
The first window funded 70% of chargepoint and civil costs, up to £1 million across all sites, for UK commercial operators of depots serving battery-electric vans, HGVs or coaches. Applications were assessed first come, first served, and the first cycle required works to finish by 31 March 2027.
The official listing says the next window is expected to open on 28 October 2026 and close on 29 January 2027. It also states that the terms and grant rates for that phase were not yet confirmed when we checked on 21 October 2026. Treat the dates as expected, not guaranteed, and check the listing before you commit.
Eligibility conditions
The scheme is conditional by design. You need to:
have operated in the UK for at least one year;
own or lease a UK depot;
have, or plan to have, at least one battery-electric van, HGV or coach;
obtain senior approval inside your organisation;
accept monitoring or audits;
avoid duplicate government funding;
make sure commercial vehicles are the primary users.
If you share infrastructure with other fleet operators, the scheme requires a cost-recovery pricing model for at least three years after the award.
The timing trap
Do not start Depot Charging Scheme expenditure before the grant agreement is signed. Spend before that point is not eligible. That sits awkwardly with long lead times for surveys, grid connections and civil design, so plan them together. Do the preparation that does not commit spend, such as a feasibility review and a quantified charging need, and hold the purchasing until the agreement is in place.
Because the case rests on a credible fleet-transition and energy-use plan, your application is only as strong as that analysis. Our guides to HGV depot charging decisions and van fleet charging cover the choices that shape it, and fleet charging costs for 2026 helps with the budget.
Which scheme fits your business?
Your site | Likely route | Headline support | Closing point |
Office, factory, hotel staff parking, small accommodation business | WCS | Up to 75% of eligible costs, max £500 per socket, up to 40 sockets | 31 March 2027 |
State-funded school or education institution | WCS education route | Up to £2,000 per socket, up to 40 sockets | 31 March 2027 |
Van, HGV or coach depot | DCS | First window: 70% of chargepoint and civil costs, up to £1 million | Next window expected 28 October 2026 to 29 January 2027 |
Customer-only or public-facing site | Not WCS by default | Consider hosting or funded models | Depends on the project |
The choice follows your operating model, not simply the number of chargers. A mixed site, such as a distribution centre with an office, may need both a WCS view for staff parking and a DCS view for the vehicle yard. Remember that DCS does not allow duplicate government funding, so plan which spaces go under which scheme.
How to apply: a practical sequence
The official route is evidence-heavy, so the order of work matters. This is the sequence we recommend, based on the scheme guidance.
Confirm the right scheme and that your organisation qualifies as an applicant.
Get landlord consent in writing if you lease the site.
Commission a technical site survey. An installer survey is recommended before you apply. It tells you the available capacity, cable routes and where the money will really go.
Apply through the official route and wait for the confirmation your scheme requires.
Use an appropriate OZEV-authorised installer where required.
Install the eligible equipment, keeping hardware costs separate from wider electrical and civil works.
Keep invoices, site evidence and photographs.
Submit the claim within the deadline.
Evidence that gets claims paid
According to GOV.UK’s installer guidance, WCS was extended for a final year to 31 March 2027, and installers must evidence their work. Claims can require labelled photographs showing the installed model and serial number, the electrical equipment, future connection points, cable routes, trenches before they are covered, the wider car park and the property.
Poor photographs, missing serial numbers, unclear future cable routes or an incomplete car-park diagram can delay or undermine a claim. Agree the photographic record with your installer before the digger arrives. Trenches cannot be photographed once they are filled in.
Why the grant is only part of the budget
With WCS capped at £500 per socket, the grant is a useful boost but not the main cost driver. The bigger questions are usually these:
Connection capacity. Does your site have enough power for the chargers you want today and the ones you will add later?
Load management. Sharing available capacity intelligently lets you fit more chargers without paying for reinforcement. Our grid capacity playbook for EV charging explains how.
Civil works. Trenching and groundwork vary hugely by car park.
Future expansion. Run ducting for the chargers you will want in three years while the ground is open.
Software and maintenance. These are running costs the grant does not cover.
Model these separately and do not equate the grant value with the project cost. That habit is what separates a smooth project from one that stalls halfway.
Our perspective: plan the site, then the grant
We see the same pattern again and again. A business finds a grant figure, sets a budget around it, and then discovers the survey changes the picture. The grant rarely decides whether a project is worthwhile. The site does.
That is why we start with feasibility and a site assessment, then design the system around your vehicles, your drivers and your available power. Grant eligibility is checked alongside that work, not before it, because the scheme rules (ownership, parking type, staff or fleet use) depend on how the site is actually used.
We also think businesses are right to look beyond grants. Where the upfront cost is the barrier, funded and shared-investment models can move the project forward without a large capital outlay, and charging software lets you manage access, payment and load from day one. For hosts with the right location, revenue-sharing models can turn chargers into an income stream.
And because evidence decides whether a grant claim is paid, we build the photographic and documentation record into the installation method, not as an afterthought.
— Swift Charging
Getting started with Swift Charging
We design, supply, install and manage commercial EV charging across the UK, from workplace and fleet installations to destination and public projects. We help eligible businesses identify and apply for government EV charging grants, and we offer flexible financing options, including funded models.
Staff parking and offices: see our workplace EV charging service.
Vans, HGVs and depots: see our fleet EV charging solutions.
Not sure what suits your site? Book a commercial EV feasibility review and we will assess your site, power and grant options.
Once chargers are in, our EV charger maintenance plans keep them reliable.
FAQ
Can I still apply for the EV infrastructure grant for staff and fleets?
No. The staff-and-fleets, commercial-landlord and landlord-infrastructure grants closed to claims on 26 May 2026. If you have an existing application, ask your installer whether a claim or evidence deadline remains. For new projects, look at WCS or, for depots, the Depot Charging Scheme.
What is the difference between WCS and the old EV infrastructure grant?
WCS contributes to chargepoint purchase and installation, up to 75% of eligible costs and £500 per socket. The old infrastructure grant covered wider groundwork and connection costs behind the chargers. Only WCS remains open, until 31 March 2027, so wider electrical and civil costs now largely fall to you.
Can a landlord or tenant apply for WCS?
Eligibility depends on ownership or landlord consent for the site. If you lease your premises, you need your landlord’s consent before applying. You also need dedicated off-road parking associated with the premises, used by staff or fleet.
Is the Depot Charging Scheme open now?
The official listing expects the next application window to open on 28 October 2026 and close on 29 January 2027, but terms and grant rates for that phase were not yet confirmed on 21 October 2026. Check the listing before you plan spend. Remember that expenditure before the grant agreement is signed is not eligible.
Sources
Recommended