Motorway services offered share of £70m to boost EV charging

The Government has announced a £70 million fund to help motorway service areas upgrade network capacity to cater for ultra-rapid electric vehicle (EV) charge points.

Speaking at COP28 Transport Day in Dubai, the transport secretary, Mark Harper, outlined plans for up to 10 trial sites in England, with the Government’s Rapid Charging Fund cover a portion of the upgrade costs.

Harper says that today’s announcement will pave the way for more ultra-rapid charge points.

“This £70m pilot scheme is the starting point and sends a message to consumers and industry that we are investing wisely and rapidly to grow the future of transport in the UK,” he added.

The Department for Transport (DfT) says that investment at motorway service areas addresses the need for a highly visible and dependable longer-distance charging network to support drivers and to accelerate future EV purchases.

The pilot involving up to 10 schemes is being delivered by National Highways and will help gather evidence to inform the design of a full fund.

Technology and decarbonisation minister Anthony Browne said: “This is an important next step in our journey to net zero and demonstrates the Government’s commitment to help the private sector expand our charging network.”

The DfT has also launched a consultation on on where EV chargers are needed most. Read more here.

It comes in the wake of an announcement from the Government in the Autumn Statement that it will look to remove unnecessary planning constraints by accelerating the expansion of EV charging infrastructure and will also consult on amending the National Planning Policy Framework to ensure the planning system prioritises the rollout of EV charge points, including EV charging hubs.

At the time, it also said that substantive action is also required to address the lengthy wait to connect to the electricity grid.

As a result, the Government has said it will reform the grid connection process to cut waiting times, including freeing up over 100GW of capacity so that projects can connect sooner.

This, it says, will help to enable the significant majority of projects to get their requested connection date with no wait and, for viable projects, reduce overall connection delays from five years to no more than six months.

RAC analysis of charging facilities at motorway services has previously revealed the Government’s target of having six high-powered chargers at all of England’s 119 services by the end of the year is unlikely to be met, with only a quarter having that amount in May.

COP28 UAE takes place from November 30 to December 12 at Expo City, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. 

The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are held annually and serve as the formal meeting to negotiate and agree action on how to tackle climate change, limit emissions and halt global warming.