Motoway service station charge points are set for an overhaul as the Government plans to intervene with new legislation to remove monopolies and ensure chargers are reliable and accessible by all.
Ecotricity currently holds an exclusive contract to provide charging provision along the motorway network, but this is set to change according to Transport Minister Rachel Maclean.
Speaking to electrifying.com, she said: “We do believe it will take government investment to ‘charge up’ this market. So we’ve got nearly £1 billion to upgrade those connections at motorway service stations. What we are going to have is at least six high power chargers in every motorway service area by 2023.”
Service level agreements will be put in place to ensure 24/7 customer care and there will be clear pricing information available. If these standards are not met the government says it will use legislation to enforce them.
The chargers will be available to anyone with a contactless payment card and will be in addition to Tesla units, which are already installed at most service stations. Larger sites will have up to 12 new points providing speeds of up to 350kW.
Maclean added: “We want the private sector to come in and we will take the best commercial offer. Now we have set out our strategy this is an attractive area for investment. This will drive an increase in performance.”
The move has been welcomed by industry experts. RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: “This is great news as charging electric cars at motorway service areas needs to fast, reliable and easy to pay for so drivers can make longer journeys with the minimum of fuss.
“Nothing is more frustrating to an electric car driver than the sight of an out-of-order charge point, so the fact that there will be a commitment to having chargers ‘in service’ will make a big difference. The promise of clear pricing is also important as drivers are used to knowing what they’d be paying before filling up, thanks to petrol price ‘totems’ on forecourts.
“It should also go a long way towards showing would-be EV drivers that ‘range anxiety’ is a thing of the past, further speeding up the switch to electric.”
It’s not just the rapid charging network which will see investment, the Government has also doubled the funding available to councils to improve local charging infrastructure.
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Matt has been an automotive journalist for eight years. As senior staff writer he is responsible for the automotive content on Fleet News and also contributes to Automotive Management. Prior to this, Matt worked in the automotive industry for 10 years.
Gordy - 11/03/2021 14:12
Wonderful news. This has been a long time coming. From a driver who has waited hours for a charging point to become available as a pure BEV driver, more investment and the end of the monopoly has to be a good thing. To be waiting for a recovery truck at 3pm on Christmas Eve because the charging point just failed whilst starting your charge and the “help desk” for Ecoelectricity closed until January was not funny. At all.