The Rapid Charging Fund hits the end of the road…

The Rapid Charging Fund (RCF) – a £950m project to provide Britain’s motorways with superfast chargers introduced by the Conservative government back in 2020 – was intended to help fast-track Britain into the electric-car era, subsidising the installation of stations and boosting motorists’ confidence to switch to EVs.

But just over five years after the fund was announced, not a single penny of the £950m fund has been deployed and no chargers have been installed with its backing.

And all this is in the context of recent polling by Ipsos Mori showing that concerns over charging infrastructure, rather than range, are now the main barrier to EV adoption in the UK.

Laudable aims

The original aim of the RCF was to incentivise the private sector to deploy ultra-rapid charging infrastructure at strategic locations across the road network, including motorways and major A-roads in England. The RCF aimed to supplement private sector investment where the cost of grid connections was too high to be commercially viable.

But motorway service operators deemed the scheme “commercially unviable” due to the requirement to commit to long-term power agreements that could lock-in high costs.

So what’s next?

With the entire RCF unallocated, in June the current government made a new announcement stating that £400m of funding had been allocated to support the further roll-out of EV charging infrastructure.

The £400m fund was part of a broader package of support to encourage EV adoption. The additional measures announced in the spending review included confirmation that company car tax breaks for EVs would remain in place until 2030, though discounted tax rates would rise from 3% to 9% by the end of the decade.

Zapgo solution

Zapgo provides site owners with a zero cost, zero effort, zero risk solution, installing rapid charging points at no cost to site owners, or to the taxpayer.  

According to Dee Humphries, Chief Growth Officer at Zapgo:

“We think government funding should be withdrawn from direct subsidies for operators and reallocated to provide support for areas where the business case is not commercially viable, action on standing charges, or measures to lower electricity prices for industry.”

“In fact, what would be most helpful,” Dee continues, “would be the introduction of measures that have absolutely no cost to the taxpayer, such as planning reform or accessibility requirements for sites.”  

Get in touch

Would you like to earn revenue from EV charging at your site? Zapgo makes it easy with fully managed, reliable chargers that support your business and local drivers, with revenue for you from day one. For more information, do get in touch: www.zapgo.co.uk/contact or email: charging@zapgo.co.uk