Gridserve, owner of the Electric Highway, has offered legally binding assurances, known as commitments, to the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) following an investigation into its contracts with motorway services.
The CMA is looking at the Electric Highway’s long-term, exclusive contracts with Extra, MOTO and Roadchef for the motorway service stations they operate. In particular, the concerns that provisions in those contracts grant exclusivity to the Electric Highway.
The CMA aimed to ensure the contracts did not prevent competitor chargepoint operators from operating at motorway service areas or impede the successful roll-out of the government’s anticipated Rapid Charging Fund (RCF).
It also stressed that the lack of competition for EV charging on motorways may result in drivers losing out on competitive prices and reliable chargepoints.
Gridserve has committed to not enforcing exclusive rights in contracts with Extra, MOTO or Roadchef, after 2026, which currently cover around two-thirds of motorway service stations.
In doing so, Gridserve has committed to reducing the length of the exclusive rights in the current contracts with MOTO by around two years and Roadchef by around four years. The contract with the third operator, Extra, is due to end in 2026.
Furthermore, Gridserve has assured the CMA it will not enforce exclusive rights at any Extra, MOTO or Roadchef sites that have been granted funding under the UK government’s RCF. This means that, where funding has been granted, competitor chargepoint operators will be able to install chargepoints regardless of the exclusive element of the Electric Highway’s contracts.
Each of the motorway service station operators – Extra, MOTO and Roadchef – and Gridserve have also offered commitments not to take any action that would undermine the above commitments.
Andrea Coscelli, CMA chief executive, said: “One of the biggest stumbling blocks to getting people to switch to electric cars is the fear that they won’t be able to travel from A to B without running out of charge. Millions of people make a pitstop for fuel at motorway service stations every day, so it’s crucial that people can trust that electric chargepoints will do the same job.
“Healthy competition is key to ensuring that drivers have a greater choice of chargepoints where they need them, and for a fair price.
“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.
“We’d now like to hear from businesses and drivers themselves on these proposed commitments”.
It is the CMA’s provisional view that the commitments offered will address its competition concerns and open up competition in the market ahead of the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.
The CMA is now inviting views on the proposed commitments to be submitted by 02 December. The organisation added it will continue to work with governments, regulators and industry to ensure EV charging is a success.
