Believ has secured a £300 million investment facility that will fund at least 30,000 new public charge points across the UK.
The financing round is led by Believ’s joint owners Liberty Global and Zouk Capital, and supported by Santander, ABN Amro, NatWest and MUFG. It comes as the UK Government pursues a goal of 300,000 public chargers by 2030; with recent research from Octopus Electroverse claiming that the UK has already eclipsed 100,000 public EV chargers.
As part of the new investment, Believ has stated that it will focus on long-term reliability of its EV charging network, as well as rolling out more chargers. Much of the cash will be spent on on-street residential chargers for drivers without driveways, while a significant sum will be set aside for rapid and ultra-rapid hubs and hard-to-reach rural locations.
Believ’s backers see the deal as proof that private capital can accelerate the Government’s Plan for Change, complementing schemes such as the £381 million Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund.
“It recognises the scale of investment required and the urgency of the need,” says Guy Bartlett, Believ’s CEO.
“Confidence in EVs will continue to grow as drivers see more infrastructure going into the ground. At Believ, we are very proud to be at the heart of this journey.”
Jonathan Pearson, Believ chair and Liberty Global executive, adds, “The funding announced today demonstrates the potential of partnering with the public sector in the UK to create the critical EV charging infrastructure required for a greener future. With Virgin Media O2 on board as a delivery partner and leveraging Liberty Global’s financing expertise, we look forward to Believ rolling out much-needed EV charge points throughout the UK.”
Massimo Resta, Partner at Zouk Capital, and manager of the Government-anchored Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund, calls the deal a watershed moment, “The EV market is at an inflection point… With this level of funding, Believ has the commercial strength, operational expertise, and local insight to deliver what communities and landowners need — on-street, town-centre, destination, and on-route charging — at real scale and pace.”
Lilian Greenwood MP, Minister for the Future of Roads, concluded, “We’re working hard to ensure all drivers can charge easily and conveniently – no matter where they are. Believ’s investment is a brilliant vote of confidence in the transition to electric and another fantastic example of Government and industry working together to roll out tens of thousands of chargepoints across the country.”
