Electric vehicle charging firm Gridserve has agreed to surrender its exclusive rights agreements with the UK’s three major motorway service station firms, a move that should help to accelerate the expansion of rapid charging infrastructure.
Under original owner Ecotricity, The Electric Highway charging network had secured exclusive deals with Extra, Moto and Roadchef, which combine to own around two-thirds of motorway service areas in the UK. Gridserve bought The Electric Highway in June 2021, and is currently investing in a major upgrade programme.
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In July 2021, the UK’s Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into whether Gridserve’s exclusive contracts with the three firms breached competition laws.
The CMS has now reached a legally-binding agreement with Gridserve that the body claims will open up motorway service areas to competitors, and also incentivise investment in the EV charging market.
Under the agreement with the CMA, Gridserve has agreed not to enforce the exclusive rights in its contracts with Extra, Moto and Roadchef after November 2026. While Gridserve’s Extra deal was due to expire at that time, that means it has reduced the length of its exclusive deals with Moto by two years and Roadchef by four years.
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As well as that, Gridserve will not enforce its exclusive rights at any service station that receives funding from the Rapid Charging Fund (RCF), a £950 million pot established by the UK government to invest in 'future-proofing' electric charging capacity on major motorways and A-roads. That means that competitor firms will be allowed to establish charging sites at locations that receive major upgrades due to RCF cash.
The two deals should help to accelerate the expansion of the number of EV chargers at motorway service stations, while also introducing direct competition at the same sites, which could help to keep prices competitive.
Ann Pope, the CMA's antitrust boss, said: “We need a combination of investment now and healthy competition going forward to make sure chargepoints are installed at scale where people need them, for a fair price.
“Today’s commitments strike the right balance. Gridserve will continue to invest in the much-needed roll-out of chargepoints across the country but the exclusivity linked to its investment won’t be an undue barrier to others competing in the near future.”
In a statement, Gridserve said that after the CMA investigation was launched in 2021 it "immediately understood why concerns had been raised as upgrading the EV charging infrastructure at motorway locations is an essential part of the public charging mix, and of particular importance to providing the confidence for new motorists to make the transition to electric vehicles.
It added: "In order to retain our focus on delivering the necessary charging infrastructure, Gridserve pursued a path towards settlement with the CMA at a very early stage in proceedings, which we are pleased has now been completed. The settlement was reached without any decision or admission of a breach of competition rules."
Gridserve added that it remained committed to "delivering the most comprehensive upgrade to the UK’s motorway EV charging infrastructure in history", which will include upgrading hundreds of 'legacy' chargers from the Ecotricity deal, and building its new Electric Hub sites, each of which features six or more high-power chargers.
The CMA said that it had consulted with industry, regulators and consumer groups before reaching the agreement with Gridserve, and had now closed its investigation. It has also written an open letter to remind the charging sector of its obligation to complete with competition law when reaching. EV charging arrangements.
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