Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their latest assessment of the provision of roadside charging points for electric vehicles in England.

The Government and industry have supported the installation of over 18,000 publicly available charging devices. This includes over 3,200 rapid devices – one of the largest networks in Europe. Highways England have now completed their commitment to ensure there is a rapid chargepoint every 20 miles along 95% of the Strategic Road Network by March 2020.

By 2023, we aim to have at least six high powered, open access?chargepoints at motorway service areas in England, with some larger sites having as many as 10-12, and by 2035 we expect the number to increase to around 6,000 high powered chargers across the network. This will be supported by a Rapid Charging Fund, part of the £500 million support for charging infrastructure announced at the March Budget.

In May, we announced that the Government will consult on improving the charging experience for drivers of electric vehicles when using the public charging network including proposals to address reliability, data provision, pricing transparency and ease of payment. We will take industry views on board to develop solutions that work for industry whilst putting the consumer experience at the heart of public electric vehicle charging.