Pull up a chair and grab a cup of tea (a leek soup might have been appropriate too), it’s the Fuuse Budget summary.
Home and workplace chargers
Announcement: £100m additional funding for domestic and workplace chargers (likely through existing grant mechanisms).
Fuuse says: This is great news for those looking to develop their workplace infrastructure and likely further extends the Workplace Charging Grant. Fuuse will update all our customers and install partners on the details as soon as more information is provided by OZEV.
CPO Business Rates
Announcement: 100% business rates relief for EV chargers and EV only forecourts.
Fuuse says: This is good news for CPOs already burdened by high electricity fixed and variable costs. The government have also provided certainty by guaranteeing this for 10 years.
The concept of an EV only forecourt, which began with through the Gridserve Braintree site in December 2020, is now rapidly growing through brilliant urban sites like Be.EV’s Manchester Charging Oasis. Measures to encourage their development can only be a positive step.
Review of public charging costs
Announcement: The government will review the cost of public EV charging, looking at the impact of energy prices, wider cost contributors, and options for lowering these costs for consumers. The review will start in Q1 2026 with a report due by Q3 2026.
Fuuse says: The first thing to say is that there are actions that could have been taken now. The late Quentin Willson was a powerful advocate for the Fair Charge campaign to equalise VAT rates between home and on the road charging. Implementing a 5% VAT rate could have been offset, for example, by a small non-inflationary increase in fuel duty, would have been a significant step to reduce the cost of public charging. While the 10 year 100% business rate relief is one valuable step a VAT reduction would have sent a powerful signal.
However, the review is very welcome, although the success will be judged by the measures that arise from it. One of the most significant measures to consider is the impact of the introduction of TCR. As Ian Johnston, CEO at Osprey, has illustrated so clearly, a cost increase of standard charges from £87 per year to £37,321 a year for a four charger site clearly has a significant impact on CPOs and their drivers.
A review of the Public Charge Point Regulations could also assess whether the measures enacted are the right ones for improving the driver's charging experience, especially given the cost of compliance.
Local Authority officer training
Announcement: An additional £100 million is being allocated for new staff and training for them and existing staff in local authorities to deliver new chargers.
Fuuse says: Given local authorities are procuring public charge points it makes sense to ensure that local authority officers are fully trained in all aspects of electric vehicle charging and how to effectively procure services. However, £100 million is a huge sum of money, particularly when officers aren’t provided with training on the role of back office software, the role of different features, functionality and payment mechanisms to aid them in the most effective delivery to end users and providing a return on investment for the taxpayer. This has been a significant oversight and has to be an integral part of training.
Additionally, procurement is focused almost exclusively on the selection of a CPO, but with little or no consideration given to the supply chain. With charge point manufacturers exiting the market, e.g. Compleo, EO, Alfen and EVBox, local authorities are finding themselves, after only a short-timeframe, with beached assets and with limited access to support and parts. Lastly, given significant public funding to local authorities, as well as investment by government into CPOs via the CIIF (Charge Infrastructure Investment Fund and the National Wealth Fund) consideration should be given to supporting a domestic supply chain.
EV Mileage Tax
Announcement: EV Pay Per Mile charges to be introduced from April 2028 – a 3p per mile charge for Electric Vehicles and 1.5p per mile for PHEVs ‘Electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED)' is being consulted.
Fuuse says: A policy that was flagged more than a F1 finishing line is finally here. Well nearly, as it is is delayed for two years and still in consultation. Costing an average £240 a year, the policy is estimated to raise £1.7 billion. While this was an inevitable step and provides a framework for road tax to mirror and offset the fall in fuel duty the impact was certain to be jumped on. The Office for Budget Responsibility predicted in the Budget white paper that EV sales would be 330,000 less than previously predicted. This was subsequently revised to 120,000 but the damage was already done, with The Telegraph leading with the headline, 'Electric vehicle sales to crater after pay-per-mile tax raid'.
Meanwhile the Chancellor's plans to freeze fuel duty until late 2026 will cost £3.3 billion. It’s disappointing to see a new tax on electric vehicle drivers effectively paid for by cuts in fossil fuel taxes.
Electric Vehicle Car Grant
Announcement: The grant has had a further £1.5 billion added and has been extended to 2030.
Fuuse says: For new EV purchasers, this grant goes some way to offsetting the impact of eVED, and its great to see the new Nissan Leaf, manufactured in Sunderland, included in the scheme.
Drive35
Announcement: The government has also provided a further £1.5 billion for projects and R&D funding under the Drive35 programme .
Fuuse says: Further support for UK registered businesses to accelerate innovation in the electric vehicle sector is obviously welcome. Both this and the Electric Vehicle Car Grant would have been great incentives for OEMs to have built factories in the UK in the way Japanese manufacturers did in the 80s and 90s. Instead, the continuing impact of leaving the European Union has meant the UK may have missed out on huge, particularly, Chinese capital investment in Europe.
SCale with Fuuse
If the Budget's EV and infrastructure related sections mean potential expansion for you, you'll need a software partner capable of scaling alongside your operations. With Fuuse you can rely on:
- Scalable software and services - See real-time usage, analyse behaviour and plan expansion, whether across one site or multiple.
- Hardware agnostic software - Fuuse works with any OCPP-compliant hardware, so you can scale or migrate your network without limits.
- Driver support - Scaling charger networks means more drivers to support. Fuuse's 24/7 driver support line prioritises getting drivers back on the road, assisting with payments, remote maintenance and app issues.
- Comprehensive data insights - Navigating EV fleet charging across depots, public networks, and return-to-home can be complex. Fuuse centralises all your charging data to give you a clear view and help you make more informed decisions.
- Driver group capability - As your operations grow, you may find your chargers are used by different groups. With Fuuse, you can set and manage driver groups across multiple sites with varying access and tariffs.
Find out more
You can find more information on the EV funding announcement here. To speak to us about the Fuuse platform and how it can support you in scaling your operations, complete the form below:
