Somerset resets £3.78m LEVI charging rollout

Volve charging at a on-street AC charger

The council updated its LEVI information on 2 September 2026, saying further engagement with charge point operators had informed a revised EV charging strategy and delivery model. Subject to approval through the LEVI programme and the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), Somerset now aims to begin a new procurement process in autumn 2026.

That is a material change from the position reached under the previous procurement, which had progressed to preferred-supplier stage and was intended to establish a long-term concession for a substantial low-power public charging rollout.

Original concession reached preferred-supplier stage

Somerset was allocated £3.783 million of LEVI capital funding for public charging intended primarily to support residents without access to off-street parking. Under the council’s earlier delivery plan, the concession was expected to provide a minimum of 1,606 lower-powered charging sockets, principally for overnight and long-stay use.

The original commercial structure placed a significant share of the investment risk with the charge point operator. Procurement documents stated that the CPO would be required to cover at least 60% of total installation costs, while the concession was planned to run for 17 years. The council also said the operator would fully fund up to 20 rapid charging locations rated at 50 kW or above.

A preferred supplier had been selected by early 2026, although the council made clear at the time that the supplier was not yet under contract. Earlier council decision records had approved the intended award subject to the remaining LEVI approval process.

Supplier withdrawal triggered fresh market engagement

Somerset’s 2026 market-engagement notice subsequently confirmed that the preferred supplier had withdrawn from the original LEVI tender. The council then returned to the market to test current CPO interest and to gather views on commercial viability, delivery approaches and operator investment appetite.

The wording of that engagement is important. Somerset asked the market whether its specification, commercial model or wider delivery strategy should be adjusted before the council decided its next steps. Its latest public update now confirms that a revised model is being developed.

The council has not publicly identified a single reason for the preferred supplier’s withdrawal, and it would be wrong to infer that one particular cost or contract condition caused it. What is clear is that commercial viability and private-sector investment appetite are now being reconsidered before the next procurement.

LEVI delivery depends on concession economics as well as funding

The reset illustrates a wider issue as LEVI schemes move from funding allocations into procurement and construction. A council can have an approved public funding allocation while still needing a concession model that produces an investable proposition for a CPO over many years.

For an operator, the economics extend well beyond the value of the LEVI contribution. The business case has to absorb the operator’s capital contribution, grid and electricity costs, utilisation ramp-up, maintenance and field service, backend and payment costs, financing, contract obligations and the time available to recover investment.

Those factors are particularly relevant where a programme is designed to serve residential areas that may have lower initial utilisation or where the authority requires coverage beyond the most commercially attractive locations. Somerset’s previous model, for example, committed at least 25% of chargepoints to lower-demand areas while placing most installation cost risk on the operator.

Revised specification is not yet public

Somerset has not yet published the specification or financial structure it intends to use for the new procurement. The previous minimum of 1,606 low-power sockets, the 60% operator contribution and the 17-year concession therefore should not be treated as confirmed requirements for the replacement tender.

The autumn 2026 procurement will show whether the council retains the original scale and risk allocation or changes the funding split, technical requirements, deployment profile or commercial terms after its latest market testing.