The Workplace Charging Scheme in 2026: £500 a Socket
The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) pays up to £500 per socket, capped at 75% of the cost of buying and installing the chargepoints and at 40 sockets across all of an applicant's sites — £20,000 in total. It closes to applications at 11:59pm on 31 March 2027. This guide covers who can apply, who may then use the chargers, and how the grant sits alongside solar and tax relief.
The Workplace Charging Scheme at a glance
| Grant per socket | Up to £500 (raised from £350 on 1 April 2026) |
|---|---|
| Share of cost | Up to 75% of the total cost of purchase and installation |
| Socket limit | 40 sockets across all sites per applicant — a maximum of £20,000 |
| Who can apply | Businesses, charities, public sector organisations and small accommodation businesses |
| Parking | Dedicated off-road parking clearly associated with the premises; you must own the property or have the landlord's consent |
| Installer and hardware | An OZEV-authorised installer fitting an approved chargepoint model; the installer redeems the voucher |
| Closing date | 31 March 2027, 11:59pm |
| State-funded schools and colleges | A separate education strand pays up to £2,000 per socket |
Source: GOV.UK Find a Grant, "Workplace Charging Scheme", checked 27 September 2026; GOV.UK, "Changes to electric vehicle chargepoint grant schemes from 1 April 2026".
What changed on 1 April 2026
Until 31 March 2026 the scheme paid up to £350 a socket, which is the figure — along with a £14,000 maximum and "extended to March 2026" — that many installer pages still quote. From 1 April 2026 the rate rose to £500 and the scheme was extended for what the government describes as a final year, to 31 March 2027. The other OZEV chargepoint grants (for flat owners and renters, residential landlords and on-street parking) rose to £500 at the same time. The separate EV infrastructure grant for staff and fleets, which part-funded the wiring and groundworks behind chargepoints, closed to customer applications on 31 March 2026, so a business case that still counts it is out of date.
Who may use chargers the grant paid for
This is the rule most WCS summaries leave out, and it changes the case for hotels, visitor attractions and retail sites. It depends on who applied:
- Businesses: the chargepoints may only be used by your staff and fleet, although you may let local residents use them outside office hours. You must be able to show the parking is for staff or fleet, not customers.
- Charities, public authorities and small accommodation businesses: no restriction — customers, guests, visitors, staff or others may use them.
So a hotel applying as an ordinary business cannot use WCS-funded sockets to offer guest charging, while a small accommodation business can. If visitor charging is the goal and you are not in an unrestricted category, price the project without the grant.
How the 75% cap works
The grant is the lower of £500 and 75% of the cost of each socket. For any socket that costs at least £667 to buy and install, the £500 figure binds. The count is per socket, not per charger: a twin-socket unit counts as two sockets. The 40-socket limit is a lifetime total across every site the applicant owns, so a multi-site business should decide which sites get the grant rather than spend it on the first one ready.
Applying, step by step
- Confirm eligibility — organisation type, dedicated off-road parking, and ownership or landlord consent.
- Choose an OZEV-authorised installer and an approved model, and agree the socket count.
- Apply online through the GOV.UK service. Successful applicants receive a voucher.
- Install before the voucher expires. Vouchers carry an expiry date (the education strand states 180 days), so apply once the installation date is firm rather than aspirational.
- The installer claims the grant by redeeming the voucher, and the discount appears on your invoice.
The GOV.UK guidance for applicants is the document of record; read it before signing an order.
The Workplace Charging Scheme and solar
The WCS funds chargepoints only. There is no equivalent national grant for business solar in England, so on a combined project the solar half is supported through tax relief rather than a grant. The stack on a typical combined project looks like this:
- Chargers: WCS up to £500 per socket, then a 100% first-year allowance on the remaining cost of new, unused chargepoint equipment (to 31 March 2027 for companies, 5 April 2027 for income-tax payers).
- Solar: the Annual Investment Allowance, 100% on up to £1m of plant a year; solar is special-rate plant, so above that cap companies get 50% in year one.
- Both, in England: the plant is excluded from business-rates valuations until 31 March 2035.
Capital allowances are claimed on what you paid after the grant, not before. The capital allowances guide sets out the order of claims, and using the WCS alongside solar panels covers sequencing: who installs what, when to apply for the voucher, and how to make sure the chargers can actually follow the array's output. For total project costs see what commercial solar EV charging costs.
Five mistakes that cost the grant
- Using a stale rate. Budgets built on £350 a socket understate the grant; budgets that still include the closed staff-and-fleet infrastructure grant overstate it.
- Applying as the wrong entity. The applicant must own the property or hold landlord consent, and the applicant's category decides who may use the chargers.
- Spending sockets on the wrong site. The 40-socket cap is across all sites for the life of the scheme.
- Letting the voucher lapse. Apply when the installer can commit to a date.
- Buying hardware that is not on the approved list — or that cannot take a signal from the site's meter, if you want it to follow solar output. Check both before ordering; how solar EV charging works covers the metering it needs.
After 31 March 2027
The scheme is scheduled to close then, and the chargepoint first-year allowance ends the same day for companies. A project that needs both should have its voucher redeemed, and its expenditure incurred, before that date — with the grid work, which usually has the longest lead time, started well ahead. Whether any successor scheme follows has not been announced; do not build a business case on one. The wider numbers are on the EV charging business case page. Depots running vans, HGVs or coaches should also read about the Depot Charging Scheme, which has its own rules, and the fleet depot guide.
Workplace Charging Scheme questions
How much is the Workplace Charging Scheme worth in 2026?
Up to £500 per socket, limited to 75% of the cost of buying and installing the chargepoints and to 40 sockets across all of the applicant's sites — a maximum of £20,000. Applications close at 11:59pm on 31 March 2027.
Can I charge my car for free at work?
If your employer offers it. Free charging at or near the workplace that is available to employees generally is not a taxable benefit (ITEPA 2003 s237A). Chargers funded by the WCS for an ordinary business are for staff and fleet use, so they suit exactly this.
Can customers or guests use WCS-funded chargers?
Only if the applicant is a charity, a public authority or a small accommodation business, where there is no restriction on who may use them. For a business applicant the chargepoints are for staff and fleets, with local residents allowed outside office hours.
Does the Workplace Charging Scheme pay for solar panels?
No. It funds EV chargepoint sockets only. On a combined project the solar half is supported through tax relief — the Annual Investment Allowance — rather than a grant.
Does a twin-socket charger count as one socket or two?
Two. The grant and the 40-socket limit both count sockets, not charger units.
What happened to the £350 rate?
The rate was raised from £350 to £500 per socket on 1 April 2026, when the scheme was also extended to 31 March 2027. Budgets and web pages still using the old rate, or a £14,000 maximum, are out of date.
Sources
- GOV.UK Find a Grant — Workplace Charging Scheme (rate, cap, eligibility, usage rules, closing date).
- GOV.UK — Changes to electric vehicle chargepoint grant schemes from 1 April 2026 (published 25 February 2026, updated 7 July 2026).
- GOV.UK — Workplace Charging Scheme for state-funded education institutions (£2,000 per socket; 180-day vouchers).
- HM Treasury — Capital allowances: extension of first-year allowances for zero-emission cars and chargepoints (26 November 2025); Capital Allowances Act 2001 s45EA.
- HMRC Capital Allowances Manual CA22335 (solar as special-rate expenditure).
- S.I. 2022/405 — The Valuation for Rating (Plant and Machinery) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2022.
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