CMA action is paving the way for greater investment, greater
choice, and competition on prices for electric vehicle drivers,
by opening up competition in the charging sector.
CMA Chief Executive says “Healthy competition is key to ensuring
drivers have a greater choice of chargepoints where they need
them, and for a fair price”.
Gridserve, which owns the Electric Highway – a major chargepoint
operator in Great Britain – has offered the following
legally-binding assurances (known as commitments):
-
Not to enforce 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
2 years and Roadchef by around 4 years (the contract with the
third operator, Extra, is due to end in 2026).
-
Not to enforce exclusive rights at any Extra, MOTO or
Roadchef sites that have been granted funding under the UK
government’s Rapid Charging Fund (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.
In July 2021, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
launched a competition
investigation into the Electric Highway’s contracts with
MOTO, Roadchef and Extra, alongside publishing the findings of
its market study into the electric vehicle charging sector.
The CMA’s investigation 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 are that provisions in those contracts granting
exclusivity to the Electric Highway:
-
may be preventing competitor chargepoint operators from
operating at motorway service areas
-
could impede the successful roll-out of the government’s
anticipated RCF
-
may result in drivers losing out on competitive prices and
reliable chargepoints as a result of a lack of competition at
motorway service areas.
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. Significant new investments are due to be made by
Gridserve ahead of expected demand between 2021 and 2025.
The CMA is now inviting views on the proposed commitments – to be
submitted to the CMA by 2 December – and will continue to work
with governments, regulators and industry to ensure electric
vehicle charging is a success.
The CMA’s action in this area is part of its wider work to
support the transition to a low carbon economy. The proposed
commitments have been offered during COP26, where the Prime
Minister named ‘cars’ as one of his four priorities.
For more information visit the investigation
into the supply of electric vehicle chargepoints on or near
motorways casepage.
Notes to Editors
-
Gridserve acquired the Electric Highway from Ecotricity in
June 2021.
-
The UK government’s Rapid Charging Fund is due
to be rolled out in England.
-
Gridserve refers to: Gridserve Holdings Limited
-
Electric Highway refers to: The Electric Highway Company
Limited
-
Extra refers to: Extra MSA Property (UK) Limited (and other
companies in the Extra group of companies that have entered
into the relevant contracts)
-
MOTO refers to: MOTO Holdings Limited and MOTO Hospitality
Limited
-
Roadchef refers to: Roadchef Limited
