Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions his Department has had with (a) Highways England and (b) Distribution Network Operators on steps to accelerate the upgrades to substations near charging points on (i) motorways and (ii) A roads.

Government is committed to accelerating the rollout of EV charging infrastructure to support long journeys in line with ambitions for a zero emission car, van and HGV fleet. Access to a comprehensive ultra-rapid chargepoint network will enable more consumers to confidently purchase electric vehicles.

There has been good progress on chargepoints on our Strategic Road Network (SRN), covering motorways and major A Roads in England. There are now over 4,500 rapid and ultra rapid chargers within one mile of the strategic road network, a major increase since January 2022 (Zapmap). Within this, there are over 1,100 open-access rapid and ultra-rapid chargepoints (industry data) at motorway service areas in England, which is an over 40% increase in the last year.

Government is taking a range of actions to support improvements in charging infrastructure on the SRN, including to address gaps in the network, and has been engaging closely with industry, including distribution network operators (DNOs).

This includes working with Ofgem and distribution network operators to develop a new, more affordable, approach so power capacity use at charging sites can be increased over time in line with demand, and on the Green Recovery Scheme, a £300m scheme to accelerate network investment. Government has worked with National Highways to deliver a joint Energy Storage Systems (ESS) project (£11m) to fund batteries, and on a £70m pilot scheme to part-fund grid upgrades, both to support charging at motorway sites.