The U.K.’s Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) has urged the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) to strengthen its assessment of a proposed £190 million motorway charging scheme, citing uncertainty over added capacity.
In its Nov. 4 report, the SAU, part of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), said OZEV should clarify what would happen without public support, show whether the subsidy could change investment decisions and assess whether the scheme would add charging capacity.
The proposal has an indicative allocation of £190 million for about 15 to 25 motorway service areas in England. The funding is part of the £400 million announced at Spending Review 2025 for EV charging infrastructure between 2026 and 2030.
Under the plan, the government would commission grid upgrades and reserve the resulting capacity for motorway service-area operators or charge point operators (CPOs) to install open-access chargers. Operators would pay a partially waived “second-comer” charge to use the capacity. They would remain responsible for chargers and other on-site infrastructure.
The terms remain under consideration. OZEV’s assessment proposes a partially waived “second-comer” charge of £150,000 to £200,000 per megavolt-ampere requested, an indicative £20 million cap on infrastructure costs per site and a reservation period of three to five years.
OZEV’s June 2026 consultation said high grid-upgrade costs can make added capacity commercially unviable at some service areas, limiting private investment. It said upgrades are intended to meet projected demand at selected sites through at least 2035 and potentially to 2050 in some cases.
The SAU identified potential benefits for long-distance drivers and fleet operators, while warning that supported sites could draw charging and retail revenue away from nearby businesses. It also said motorway service-area operators control access to their sites, raising questions about whether they might favor affiliated charging providers over third-party CPOs.
OZEV linked the current design, which puts grid commissioning in government hands, to lessons from an earlier £70 million Rapid Charging Fund pilot. Its June consultation said the pilot issued no grants because motorway service-area applicants did not accept the proposed direct-agreement terms.
The SAU’s advice is nonbinding and does not decide whether the scheme should proceed or determine compliance with subsidy-control rules. OZEV is expected to assess the design once its terms are settled; the SAU said that assessment may need revision.