The UK’s competition regulator has published its response to the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles’ (OZEV) consultation on the Rapid Charging Fund (RCF), calling for changes.

The CMA has encouraged OZEV to consider a number of areas for the design of the Rapid Charging Fund

The consultation ran until mid-February 2024 to help design the RCF, which will enable a comprehensive ultra-rapid charging network by funding prohibitively expensive grid connections.

The RCF, already being trialled at 10 sites, will boost the number of ultra-rapid charge points at motorway services and spark private investment.

The fund will aim to ensure that the private sector can install ultra-rapid 150kW charge points where they are needed ahead of growing demand. This will be done by providing grants towards the cost of electricity network capacity at key sites, where it may be prohibitively expensive for the private sector to do so alone. The Government has previously said the fund will support the rollout of at least 6,000 high-powered charge points across England’s motorways and major A-roads by 2035.

However, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has also previously warned that subsidies could distort competition between motorway service area (MSA) operators, which led to a report published in June. The watchdog has since warned charge point operators (CPOs) not to breach competition laws and not to enforce exclusivity deals at any MSA site granted funding.

In its newly published response to the consultation, the CMA has encouraged OZEV to consider a number of areas. These include prohibitions on future exclusivity arrangements as it warns again that these could weaken competition.

It’s also said OZEV should set a minimum number of charge point operators at each MSA site and strongly agreed with OZEV’s proposal that all MSA sites in receipt of RCF funding should have a minimum of two CPOs onsite. The CMA also says even where motorway service areas don’t get RCF funding, there’s still a strong case to have a minimum of two CPOs onsite.

Interoperability of charge points with all EVs is also a concern – and the regulator says it supports OZEV’s proposal that only open-access charging networks would qualify. Other OZEV proposals also backed by the CMA include open tendering to encourage competition for access to an MSA site and that MSA sites treat CPOs on a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory basis.

Other recommendations include work on reliability and availability of EV charging infrastructure – including OZEV’s proposal that MSAs must meet a minimum level of provision at their sites that evolves over time, supported by the enactment of the Public Chargepoint Regulations 2023.

Outside of motorways, the CMA also recommended action on other areas of the Strategic Road Network (SRN) to plug gaps in en-route charging provision. It’s supported OZEV’s proposal to consider whether the RCF could play a role in addressing gaps in the SRN and also said that devolved governments across the UK should consider targeting funding to fill charging gaps in more remote areas.

The Government has said that responses from the consultation will inform work on designing the RCF. A response to the consultation will be “published in due course”.