Infrastructure fund manager Zouk Capital has been named as the preferred bidder for the U.K. government’s EV Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund.
“We want to increase the number of electric cars on our roads, but to achieve this we need to ensure drivers have access to the right infrastructure, including charge points,” said Robert Jenrick, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.
The private equity fund manager confirmed it is entering into exclusive negotiations with the government to manage the fund, which will bring together £200 million ($261 million) of Treasury investment and £200 million ($261 million) of match funding from the private sector.
The fund will invest in U.K. companies and platforms across the full breadth of the public electric vehicle charging sector.
The fund was first announced in the Autumn Budget of 2017 and is seen as a crucial component of the government's wide-ranging plans to accelerate the roll out of electric vehicles.
The government said the dual policy objectives of the CIIF were to “enable faster expansion of public EV charging networks and to increase the amount of capital invested in the sector via a catalytic effect.”
Subject to negotiations, the fund is now expected to launch in spring 2019.