Menu

Charging electric vehicles in Kent

Public charging

There are many ways you can charge an electric vehicle (EV) in Kent.

You can find public chargers in:

  • town centres
  • supermarkets
  • restaurants
  • workplaces
  • petrol stations.

View public charging points on ZapMap. Or rent charging time from homeowners with a charger using a service like Co-Charger.

Driveway charging

If you have a driveway, you can set up a dedicated vehicle charger. This will let you charge directly from your home energy supply. Talk to your electricity provider about tariffs and how to charge efficiently.

The government's Electric Vehicle Homecharge Grant helps some households with up to 75% of the installation costs.

If your charger faces onto the street and is installed within 2 metres of the road or pavement, you may need planning permission to install it. Speak to your district council if you are unsure.

Private off-road parking

If you have private parking that is separated from your home, for example a garage or parking bay within a residential parking area, you may think about installing a private charger.

For help with installation costs, visit GOV.UK. Where you can learn about the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Grant. It may save you up to 75% on the installation.

If the connection of electricity from your home to the charger would need work done to, or under, a public highway (roads maintained by us), you'll need to employ a contractor to do the work who:

  • holds £5 million of Public Liability Insurance cover
  • is New Roads and Street Works Act (NRSWA) accredited
  • will apply for a Section 50 licence to place apparatus on the highway
  • will ensure no part of the parking bay, or any part of the charging vehicle, is within 2.5m of any other electrical equipment, such as a lamp column. Additional works may need to be carried out to existing infrastructure to ensure there is no enhanced electrocution risk to yourself or other highway users.

If the road is not managed by us, you do not require our permission to install a charger but you will need permission from the management company responsible for the road.

Improving charging in Kent

On-street charging

We're working to deliver 10,000 on-street EV chargers across the county. Including working with Kent councils to install hundreds of public chargers in their car parks. We hope this will help you if you own an EV and do not have off-road parking.

Read more about our work to improve Kent's electric vehicle infrastructure.

Cross-pavement charging

We don’t currently allow EV cross-pavement solutions, such as cable gullies or cable mats, to be installed on the highway. We are awaiting an update from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) about electrical safety to determine if and how the safe and effective use of cross-pavement solutions could be integrated into our highway authority function.

We will update this page, later in 2026, when a decision has been made as to whether we will permit the installation of cross pavement EV charging solutions or an alternative on-street charging solution.