Overview
- Government launched a £10 million Innovate UK competition to deploy off‑grid or minimal‑grid ultra‑rapid charging on England’s motorways and major A‑roads, with applications due by 25 March 2026.
- Projects must enable at least 12 vehicles to use ultra‑rapid chargers delivering roughly 120 to 145 miles of range in about 15 minutes.
- Official figures report a record 86,021 public chargers in the UK, up 23% year on year, with faster growth outside London and strong gains in rural regions including Yorkshire, the North West, Scotland and Wales.
- Ministers are consulting on reforms to ease home charging for people without driveways, including scrapping planning permission for cross‑pavement gullies, requiring chargepoints in covered car parks and cutting up to £250 in application fees, with claims that cheap home tariffs can bring running costs to about 2p per mile.
- Industry and campaigners warn access may still be limited by council or landlord refusals and potential new business‑rate costs for operators, raising concerns over higher prices and a widening ‘charging divide’ for those without home charging.