Labour scraps £950m EV rapid charging fund first announced by Conservatives

£400m to be set aside for on-street charging points instead of motorways after RCF was mired in delays

Labour ministers have scrapped a promise by the previous government for a £950m fund for installing electric car chargers near motorways, instead setting aside a smaller sum mainly for on-street charging points.

The rapid charging fund (RCF) was first announced in 2020 by Rishi Sunak, then Conservative chancellor, with the aim of supporting upgrades to the grid so that more electric vehicles could be rapidly charged at the same time.

However, it was mired in delays amid concerns it could unfairly benefit some motorway service companies.

The Department for Transport said the RCF had never formally been included in budget plans, so the promise was unfunded.

The Guardian revealed in March that ministers were considering directing proposed funding away from motorway services amid criticism of the fund’s design from industry.

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, committed £400m over the next five years “to support the rollout of charging infrastructure” in this month’s spending review, after announcing £200m for charging in the autumn budget. It is understood much of the spending will support on-street charge points in poorer areas, where private-sector investment has lagged behind.

However, some people in the charging industry said the government should have honoured the £950m pledge in full, even if the money was redirected towards other incentives for people to switch to EVs.

John Lewis, the chief executive of char.gy, which operates on-street chargers, welcomed the £400m pledge. However, he said: “The key question now is: couldn’t the full amount have been directed towards the EV effort – whether through the continued rollout of on-street charging or other consumer incentives – to give people greater confidence to make the switch to electric?”

The number of electric car chargers in the UK is rising rapidly, passing 80,000 in May, according to the data company Zap Map. That represented a 29% increase compared with a year earlier, while the number of rapid chargers with power above 50kW rose by a third.

Increasing the number of public chargers is seen as crucial to persuading people to switch to electric cars. However, the focus has shifted from rapid chargers, which can allay “range anxiety” on longer journeys, to the slower on-street chargers needed for car owners who do not have private parking spaces.

Ian Johnston, the chief executive of Osprey Charging, said: “New funding should be more effectively deployed on projects in prime locations where the grid connection costs render the site unviable – whether A roads, underserved regions or the small number of motorway locations with unviable grid – rather than gifted to all motorway sites regardless of the costs, as was envisaged under the RCF.”

Johnston also called for changes to road signage permissions to allow charge points to be easily advertised to drivers.

Quentin Willson, the founder of FairCharge, a group campaigning for cheaper charging, said the full £950m should have been spent on accelerating the switch to electric cars.

“Withholding unused RCF funds and not diverting them towards other EV charging initiatives isn’t a great look for government,” he said. “It opens them to the obvious questions about their commitment to the EV transition.”

Willson, a former presenter of Top Gear, said the government should also cut VAT on public charging to match the lower rates available on home electricity.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “The rapid charging fund was designed to support the rollout of charging infrastructure on motorways and major A roads – but the previous government did not set out detailed plans to deliver this.

“Since the fund was announced in 2020, the market has changed significantly, with the number of open-access rapid and ultra-rapid charge points within one mile of the strategic road network almost quadrupling in the last three years alone.”

Cover photo:  Electric vehicles charging at Wetherby services in Yorkshire. The Department for Transport has said the RCF promise was unfunded. Photograph: Phil Wilkinson/Alamy