SC250082 - Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure

The Kent County Council (KCC) wishes to invite suppliers to tender for the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) project. In line with Government plans to decarbonise transport and end the sale of petrol and diesel cars, Kent County Council is preparing the network for zero emission vehicles and in doing so supporting the ambition to reach net zero by 2050.

In March 2022 the Government published Taking charge: the electric vehicle infrastructure strategy which outlined their intention that Local Authorities should play a leading role in ensuring equitable access to Electric Vehicle Charge Points (EVCP) in their localities.

This was followed up in 2023 when the Government launched the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund, which was designed to help deliver a step change in the deployment of local, primarily low power, on-street charging infrastructure to accelerate the commercialisation of, and investment in, the local charging infrastructure sector.

The LEVI fund is administered by the Office of Zero Emissions Vehicles (OZEV), who want to see Tier 1 Authorities enabling charging for those in most need. In the current landscape of electric vehicle (EV) charging, OZEV have made it clear that the primary focus should be on existing residential properties without the ability to charge their vehicles at home.

The Council will work with a private sector charge point operator (CPO) to develop a reliable and high-quality public on-street charge point network. This will enable equal levelling up across the county by providing the infrastructure needed for the residents of Kent to make the switch to EVs, particularly for those without the ability to charge at home.

The Individual Contract will be a Concession Contract with a contractual term of 20 years. The Supplier will work with the Customer to plan and deliver a network of primarily standard speed (3.7 kWh < P < 8 kWh) charge points, with a significant focus on 7kW bollard chargers. However, other charge point types and speeds may be considered if needed and subject to agreement by The Customer. The installation period of the charge points will take place during the first 10 years of the contract term. Based on the data provided by CENEX and the project dependencies, assumptions, constraints and risks, KCC have set the below indicative targets for installations:

• Infrastructure for 4,000 Sockets by 2030
• Infrastructure for 10,000 Sockets by 2035

The procurement pack which includes further detail on the requirements can be found on the Kent Business Portal.