Legally binding commitments from Gridserve are to unlock competition and increase choice of electric vehicle charge points on motorways for drivers.

The CMA said the commitments will enable Gridserve to continue to invest in rolling out charge points across the country but the exclusivity linked to its investment won’t be an undue barrier to others

The commitments have been secured by the Competition and Markets Authority as part of its investigation into suspected breaches of competition law on motorway charging,

Gridserve, which bought the Electric Highway motorway charging network from Ecotricity in June, had already pledged a number of moves, which have now been consulted on by the CMA and accepted.

These include not to 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). This means that 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.

Each of the motorway service area operators – Extra, Moto and Roadchef – and Gridserve have also promised not to take any action that would undermine these commitments.

Ann Pope, the CMA’s senior director of antitrust, said: “We need a combination of investment now and healthy competition going forward to make sure charge points are installed at scale where people need them, for a fair price.

“Today’s commitments strike the right balance. Gridserve will continue to invest in the much-needed roll-out of charge points across the country but the exclusivity linked to its investment won’t be an undue barrier to others competing in the near future.”

Alongside reducing Gridserve’s exclusivity, the CMA’s action will also allow the RCF to be rolled out as planned and provide drivers with faster charging.

This funding is intended to encourage the installation of charge points at motorway service areas, but it is expected to only be available for sites with more than one charge point operator.

Without the commitments, Gridserve would have retained exclusivity at the vast majority of motorway service areas and the CMA said that wide take-up of the RCF would not have been possible.

Gridserve has commenced a significant new programme of investments ahead of expected increases in demand, as people switch to electric vehicles in the lead-up to the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.

The commitments bring the CMA’s investigation to a close. It’s also written an open letter, reminding the sector of its obligation to comply with competition law in relation to electric vehicle charging arrangements.