Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's publication entitled UK Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy, published 31 March 2022, whether he has had recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the government's response to the consultation on the design of the Rapid Charging Fund.

The Rapid Charging Fund (RCF) will future-proof electrical capacity at strategic locations, where it is currently uncommercially viable for industry to do so, to prepare the network for a fully electric car and van fleet. The RCF will not fund chargepoints directly. It will enable the market to deliver by subsidising the uncommercial costs of new or additional electricity connections.

The Government is in the process of developing a pilot for the RCF. The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) has been engaging closely with stakeholders and colleagues in other Departments for the pilot, which will open for applications in due course. The budget for the pilot will be publicly announced when it opens for applications.

The Government intends to conduct a public consultation for the main RCF. Results from the consultation and learnings from the pilot will help to inform the design of the main fund.

Ahead of the RCF, the Government continues to work with industry on the rollout of chargepoints at motorway service areas (MSAs). 96 per cent of motorway service areas (MSAs) have at least one rapid chargepoint. There are now 260 ultra-rapid (150kw+) chargepoints, and more than 480 open-access (can be used with any electric vehicle) rapid (50kW) and ultra-rapid chargepoints at MSAs altogether.