EV drivers are to benefit from healthier market competition on charging at motorway services on the back of new pledges to end current exclusive arrangements.

Gridserve has made a number of commitments that will open up competition on motorways ahead of the 2030 ICE ban

Gridserve, which bought the Electric Highway motorway charging network from Ecotricity in June, has made a number of commitments that will open up competition on motorways ahead of the 2030 ICE ban.

The commitments come on the back of an ongoing investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority into suspected breaches of competition law on motorway charging.

The probe, which runs until 2 December 2021, opened in July and Gridserve has now said it will not enforce exclusive rights in contracts with service station operators Extra, Moto or Roadchef after 2026. The deals cover around two-thirds of motorway service stations and were due to end in 2028 and 2030 with Moto and Roadchef.

Gridserve has also said that it won’t enforce exclusive rights at any Extra, Moto or Roadchef sites that have been granted funding under the Government’s Rapid Charging Fund (RCF). So competitor charge point operators will be able to install charge points where funding has been granted, regardless of the exclusive element of the Electric Highway’s contracts.

All four firms have also said they won’t take any further action that would undermine the these commitments.

The CMA said that drivers’ trust in electric charge points is crucial to the switch to EVs and that healthy competition is key to ensuring that drivers have a greater choice of charge points where they need them, and for a fair price.

Andrea Coscelli, CMA chief executive, added: “We believe that opening up competition on motorways, while ensuring the sector has greater investment, is the right direction of travel – and good news for current drivers of electric cars and for people thinking of buying one.”

When its probe into the motorway charging launched, the CMA had said that provisions in Electric Highway’s contracts with Extra, Moto and Roadchef may be preventing competitor charge point operators from operating at motorway service areas – and that they could impede the successful roll-out of the Government’s RCF scheme.

From an initial analysis, the CMA has said that the commitments offered today will address its competition concerns and open up competition in the market ahead of the 2030 ICE ban. Significant new investments are due to be made by Gridserve ahead of expected demand between 2021 and 2025.

It’s now urging businesses and drivers to have their say on these proposed commitments – any responses should go to the CMA by 2 December.

The watchdog has also reiterated that it continues to work with governments, regulators and industry to ensure electric vehicle charging is a success.

Alongside opening its investigation into motorway charging services in July 2021, the CMA also published the findings of its market study into the electric vehicle charging sector, which found that the UK needs many more charge points, including on-street as well as increased motorway infrastructure.