Hampshire County Council Appoints Believ for Major Public EV Charging Rollout

Hampshire County Council has awarded Believ a contract to deploy 17,180 public electric vehicle charge points across the county, in what the charge point operator says is the largest Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) contract signed to date.

The programme will be supported by a £6.6 million LEVI grant from the UK government, while Believ is expected to provide the majority of the funding, with an investment of around £90 million. The initiative is intended to improve public charging access for residents who do not have off-street parking, a group that accounts for around one in three households in Hampshire.

The rollout will focus primarily on 22kW standard-plus charging sockets, with the aim of making charge points available within a five-minute walk of homes where possible. The network will also include more than 800 rapid chargers of 50kW or above, designed to support faster top-ups for drivers.

Believ will manage the full delivery of the programme, including planning, design, installation, operation and long-term maintenance of the charging infrastructure. Installations are expected to begin later this year, with approximately 500 charge points planned during the first year.

The project forms part of the UK government’s LEVI programme, which supports local authorities in expanding residential EV charging infrastructure across England. Nationally, LEVI has allocated £343 million in capital funding and £37.8 million in resource funding to help councils deliver public charging networks.

The Hampshire scheme is also being designed in line with PAS 1899, the accessibility standard for public EV charge point installation, to help ensure the infrastructure can be used by people with a wide range of accessibility needs.

"The project would help ensure that EV charging is reliable and convenient for residents, particularly those without private driveways or dedicated parking. The partnership demonstrates how local authorities can support low-carbon transport without placing additional pressure on council finances."

Councillor Kirsty North, Deputy Leader of Hampshire County Council and Cabinet Lead for Universal Services

Believ has been expanding its UK deployment activity and raised £300 million earlier this year to support further charge point rollouts. The company is also involved in LEVI-backed projects in other parts of the country, including Suffolk.

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