IN Brief:
- The Department for Transport has opened consultation on a strategic charging infrastructure scheme for England.
- The scheme targets motorway service areas where electricity network upgrade costs remain commercially challenging.
- Government has indicated a £190m allocation within wider EV charging infrastructure funding for 2026 to 2030.
The Department for Transport has opened consultation on a strategic charging infrastructure scheme designed to address high electricity network upgrade costs at selected motorway service areas in England.
The consultation closes at 11:59pm on 28 July 2026. The proposals focus on locations where the cost of electricity capacity remains a barrier to ultra-rapid EV charger deployment, with government support intended to make network capacity available to industry at a subsidised, commercially viable price.
Motorway service areas are the central focus. England has 116 MSAs, which provide fixed rest, refuelling, and charging locations along the motorway network. The government wants those sites to have sufficient electricity network capacity to support EV driver demand as uptake increases.
The scheme would target a subset of MSAs where grid capacity is not commercially viable under current cost conditions. Government would strengthen network connections near selected sites, reserve the resulting capacity for a fixed period, and allow operators installing open-access EV charging to access that capacity through standard connection processes.
The proposed mechanism would use a subsidised second-comer charge. Companies installing charging infrastructure would enter into their own agreements with connection providers to access capacity. The connection provider would then pay the second-comer charge to government, but at a subsidised rate intended to support commercial deployment.
The consultation indicates a £190m allocation for the scheme within wider EV charging infrastructure funding announced for 2026 to 2030. The scheme aims to ensure selected MSAs have enough electricity network capacity by 2030 to meet projected EV driver demand until at least 2035, and potentially toward 2050 where appropriate.
Government support would apply only to extension assets. Examples include modifications to substations at the point of connection, trunking and cabling, a new substation at the motorway service area, and creation of an exit point where the connection provider’s network meets the customer’s on-site private infrastructure. Wider reinforcement works serving multiple customers would remain with DNOs, National Grid Electricity Transmission, and NESO.
The proposals underline how ultra-rapid charging deployment depends on electricity infrastructure as much as charge point procurement. High-power chargers require upstream capacity, cable routes, substations, protection, metering, and connection agreements. The equipment can often be specified faster than the network can be reinforced.
Battery-backed and mobile charging systems can ease some site constraints, particularly where demand is intermittent or permanent capacity is not yet available. Mobile rapid charging systems for temporary power sites show how batteries can provide flexibility away from fixed high-capacity connections. Strategic motorway charging, however, still requires durable grid capacity at fixed locations serving large traffic volumes.
Network capacity is also becoming a commercial factor for charge point operators. Rapid-charging network revenue growth has strengthened the investment case for scaled infrastructure, but connection costs can still determine which sites move forward and how quickly. Motorway sites are especially exposed because driver expectations, peak holiday demand, and limited alternative locations raise the required reliability and power availability.
The new proposal follows the Rapid Charging Fund pilot, which concluded without awards after difficulties around direct contracts between motorway service area operators and government. The strategic charging infrastructure scheme uses a different structure, with government contracting connection providers to strengthen capacity and setting access terms for future charging installers.
Site selection would be evidence-led. The consultation sets in-scope thresholds where estimated total grid connection costs to meet projected 2035 demand are at least £3m and where the associated cost per MVA of resulting capacity is at least £300,000/MVA. Long-listed locations would then be assessed through feasibility studies and portfolio optimisation.
The scheme applies only to existing operational motorway service areas. That reflects the fixed nature of motorway rest infrastructure, where suitable access points are limited and the relocation of demand to cheaper grid nodes is rarely practical. Major A-road charging may offer more siting flexibility, but motorway charging must follow the motorway network.
On-site private assets would remain outside the proposed government subsidy. Metering, on-site 11kV/400V substations, private cabling, charger foundations, chargers, and local electrical works would remain with charge point operators, motorway service area operators, and their contractors. The government would not allocate capacity to named operators, leaving market participants to use standard connection processes.
The scheme would create work across network design, contestable connections, substations, cable installation, protection, metering, civil works, charger installation, and commissioning. It also draws transport decarbonisation further into distribution planning, where EV demand forecasts, capacity reservations, reinforcement costs, and connection queues need to be managed together.
Responses to the consultation will shape the scheme’s design, site selection process, capacity-access arrangements, and subsidy structure. Ultra-rapid charging on strategic roads will not scale on charger hardware alone. It will require enough electrical capacity at the right motorway locations, delivered early enough to meet demand rather than chase it.
