For UK EV drivers without a driveway, the hardest charging question is not usually range. It is routine. Where do you charge often enough, cheaply enough, and predictably enough for the numbers to make sense?
That is why the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund, usually shortened to LEVI, is worth paying attention to in 2026. It is not a grant you claim as an individual driver. It is funding for councils in England to plan and deliver local chargepoints, especially for residents who do not have off-street parking.
The practical promise is simple: more overnight-friendly public charging closer to where people actually park. For anyone tracking EV mileage, business journeys, or running costs, that could change the real cost per mile far more than another headline about motorway rapid chargers.
What LEVI is trying to fix
Home charging is still the easiest way to keep EV costs predictable. But a large chunk of drivers cannot use it because they park on-street. That creates a strange split in the EV market: two drivers can own similar cars, drive similar miles, and face very different costs because one can plug in at home and the other has to rely on public charging.
LEVI is aimed at that second group. GOV.UK describes the fund as support for local authorities to plan and deliver chargepoint infrastructure for residents without off-street parking. The allocation method is specifically weighted towards areas with lower levels of residential off-street parking, because those drivers are more dependent on the public network.
This matters because on-street residential charging is a different thing from a rapid charging hub. It is usually about slower or standard chargers near homes, where a car can sit for longer. That makes it better suited to everyday top-ups, overnight charging, and predictable commuting than the quick-stop rapid chargers you use on longer trips.
What is new in 2026?
The current story is that LEVI is moving from policy language into local delivery. GOV.UK's LEVI funding page was updated on 10 June 2026, including capability funding amounts out to 2028 to 2029, and earlier 2026 updates covered capital project statuses.
There are also visible council projects now appearing around the country. Some areas are procuring chargepoint operators, some are consulting on locations, and some have already awarded delivery contracts. For drivers, that means the useful question is no longer just "does LEVI exist?" It is: what is my council actually installing, where, and when?
The scale is meaningful. Government announcements have said the existing £381 million LEVI Fund is expected to support more than 100,000 local chargepoints in the coming years. The timing will vary by council, but the direction is clear: more of the public charging network is being designed around people who need to charge near home.
Why this is different from cross-pavement charging
Cross-pavement charging and LEVI both help drivers without driveways, but they solve different versions of the problem.
Cross-pavement charging is usually about using your own home electricity supply through a safe pavement channel or similar solution. If it works for your street and council, it can move you closer to true home charging costs.
LEVI-funded on-street charging is public infrastructure. You use chargers installed in residential streets, car parks, lamp columns, or other local locations. You probably will not get domestic tariff pricing, and you will not own the charger or the parking bay. But you may get a practical local charging option where private home charging is not realistic.
That distinction matters for mileage records. A LEVI charger is still public charging, so the receipt trail, pence-per-kWh rate, parking restrictions, and charging provider all need to be recorded properly if you want an accurate cost per mile.
The cost-per-mile question
The big thing to track is whether local on-street charging reduces your reliance on expensive rapid charging.
Zapmap's June 2026 public charging price index put the weighted average pay-as-you-go price at 54p/kWh for standard and standard-plus chargers from 3kW up to 49kW. For rapid and ultra-rapid chargers at 50kW and above, the weighted average was 79p/kWh.
Using Zapmap's average-efficiency assumptions, that works out at about 16p per mile for standard public charging and 24p per mile for rapid and ultra-rapid charging. Your own car, tariff, weather, route, and driving style will shift those numbers, but the principle is useful: slower local charging can be materially cheaper than relying on rapid charging for routine miles.
That does not automatically make every on-street charger cheap. Some local networks will be better value than others, and parking charges can change the real cost of a stop. But if LEVI gives you a reliable local overnight option, it can turn public charging from an occasional expensive rescue into part of your normal weekly routine.
What drivers should check locally
Because LEVI is delivered through local authorities, the experience will not be identical everywhere. A useful local check should cover:
- whether your council has published a LEVI project page, consultation, or delivery map
- which streets, car parks, or neighbourhoods are being prioritised
- whether chargers are standard, fast, rapid, lamp-column based, or a mix
- which chargepoint operator will run them
- what the pence-per-kWh tariff is likely to be
- whether parking rules, permits, overnight restrictions, or bay limits apply
- whether residents can suggest locations or respond to consultations
That last point is easy to miss. Many councils are still shaping rollouts, and local feedback can affect where chargers go. If your street has several EVs and no off-street parking, it is worth checking whether your council is actively collecting requests.
How to track LEVI charging properly
If a new local charger appears near you, it is tempting to judge it by convenience alone. For mileage tracking, treat it as a new cost category.
Start by separating your charging records into:
- home charging, if you have any access to it
- local public charging, including LEVI-style residential chargers
- rapid or motorway charging for longer trips
- workplace charging, if your employer provides it
Then record the key details for each session: date, network, location, kWh added, total paid, advertised pence per kWh, and the journey or mileage period it supports.
That gives you a cleaner answer to the question that actually matters: what did this charging setup cost me per mile over the month?
Business mileage needs a cleaner split
LEVI charging could be especially useful for drivers who use an EV for mixed business and personal mileage. A local overnight charger may be cheaper and easier than topping up at rapid chargers after work trips, but you still need the records to back up any reimbursement conversation.
If you drive a company EV, HMRC's advisory electric rates are now split by charging location. From 1 June 2026, the fully electric advisory rates are 7p per mile for home charging and 15p per mile for public charging. LEVI-funded residential chargers are public chargers, so drivers and employers should be careful not to treat them as home charging just because they are near home.
For personally owned EVs used for work, the details can vary depending on how you claim and how your employer reimburses. Either way, clean journey records help. The more your charging moves between home, local public, rapid, and workplace options, the more useful a proper mileage log becomes.
What could still be frustrating
LEVI will not magically remove every on-street charging problem. Drivers should still expect some practical friction:
- rollout dates may slip as councils procure operators and finalise sites
- chargers may not be placed exactly where residents want them
- a charger does not guarantee an available parking space
- local public charging may still cost more than domestic electricity
- receipts and app records may vary by operator
- some locations may prioritise accessibility, pavement width, grid capacity, or parking policy over convenience
None of that makes LEVI unimportant. It just means drivers should treat it as better local infrastructure, not as a perfect substitute for a private driveway charger.
A practical before-and-after test
If a LEVI charger appears near you in 2026, give it a proper trial rather than guessing. Track one normal month before using it regularly, then one normal month after.
Compare:
- total EV miles
- business miles versus personal miles
- home, local public, rapid, and workplace charging spend
- average pence per kWh
- estimated energy cost per mile
- time spent detouring for charging
You may find the financial saving is modest but the convenience is excellent. Or you may find it materially reduces rapid charging and brings your real EV running costs down. Either outcome is useful, because it is based on your actual journeys rather than national averages.
The takeaway for EV drivers
LEVI is one of the more practical EV infrastructure stories in 2026 because it focuses on the people who have been stuck in the awkward middle: drivers who want an EV, or already own one, but cannot simply plug in on a driveway.
For Mileage Tracker users, the point is not just that more chargers are coming. It is that your charging mix may change. When it does, your mileage records should change with it.
Keep local public charging separate from home charging, record the actual pence-per-kWh cost, and compare it against your mileage. That is how you find out whether new on-street charging near home is genuinely lowering your EV cost per mile or just making charging less annoying. Both are useful, but only one shows up properly in the numbers.
Sources
- GOV.UK: Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funding amounts
- GOV.UK: LEVI funding allocation methodology
- GOV.UK: Government set to deliver over 100,000 more EV chargepoints
- Zapmap: EV charging statistics 2026
- Zapmap: UK EV charging price index
- GOV.UK: Advisory fuel and electric rates
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