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Guidance

Cost of public EV charging review: terms of reference

Published 9 June 2026

© Crown copyright 2026

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-public-ev-charging-review-terms-of-reference/cost-of-public-ev-charging-review-terms-of-reference

Background

The UK is accelerating towards a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) fleet, with the trajectory set to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2035. Whilst we expect many drivers to primarily charge their electric vehicle (EV) at home, effective, accessible and affordable public charging infrastructure is critical to support those who will rely on the public charging network.

Good progress has been made to develop this network, with more than 120,000 public chargers installed across the UK. However, the tariffs drivers must pay to charge their vehicles on the network have risen in recent years, with industry analysis estimating that average charging prices have increased by 38% since 2021. (ChargeUK; Delivering Affordable Charging for All, September 2025)

Purpose

At Budget 2025, the UK government committed to reviewing the cost of public EV charging, reporting in autumn 2026. The review will consider:

  • the impact of energy prices
  • wider cost contributors
  • options that government and industry can take for lowering these costs for consumers

This terms of reference sets out the review’s leadership, governance, scope and outputs.

Leadership and governance

The government has appointed Philip New as independent chair for the review, with support provided by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV).

The review will report to ministers in the Department for Transport, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and His Majesty’s Treasury.

OZEV, a joint unit between the Department for Transport and the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, is the responsible government sponsor for the review.

The review will be developed in collaboration with Ofgem, given their responsibilities for energy sector regulation in Great Britain.

Where relevant policy is devolved, the review will consider impacts and outcomes with the devolved governments.

Scope

This review will:

  1. Examine the costs of charging electric cars and vans on the UK public charge point network, how these costs have changed in recent years, and how they might change in the future without intervention.
  2. Consider the costs of charging across the entire public charging network, including lower powered on-street charging, destination charging (for example, in retail car parks) and higher powered en-route charging (for example, at motorway service areas).
  3. Consider the costs of charging relative to the costs of fuelling internal combustion engine cars and vans.
  4. Consider the extent to which cost savings from policy changes might be passed on to consumers that use the public charging network, including consideration of market competition.
  5. Consider the impacts of possible options, and costs, on other energy consumers.
  6. Consider the impacts of possible options on the costs for EV fleet operators that charge at private depots.
  7. Consider the impacts of greater access to domestic charging for more drivers.
  8. Propose options and recommendations for reducing public charging costs. The areas to be considered include, and are not limited to:
  • regulation
  • government funding routes and prioritisation
  • wider government levers and policies to address costs
  • actions taken by the relevant regulators
  • market-based trading schemes
  • dynamic pricing (time of use tariffs)

Tax costs will be reflected within the report, within points 1 to 3 above. However, the review will not make recommendations on changes to tax policy. This is consistent with other such reviews which avoid pre-empting fiscal events, where decisions on tax can be made in the round, taking into account the wider economic and fiscal context.

Domestic charging costs are out of scope.

Outputs

This review will provide a report to be published in autumn 2026, structured in 3 sections.

Section 1

A review of the current costs of public charging, how these have changed in recent years, and the drivers for these changes.

Section 2

An assessment of how, and why, public charging costs might change in the near and medium term, to 2030, without intervention.

Section 3

What government, and industry, could do to reduce the costs of public charging. This will cover ongoing work, and recommended options to go further.

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