Daily EV news · UK · 16 September 2026
EV Charging
Family road trip from Nice to Northern Ireland tests French and UK charging networks over 2,175 miles
A family drove an Audi Q4 e-tron 2,175 miles from Nice, France, to Northern Ireland and back, achieving around 240 miles between charges with a full load, motorway speeds and air conditioning. The vehicle has a maximum range of 338 miles on a full charge. The journey provided a direct comparison of charging infrastructure between France and the UK, though the article does not specify which country performed better.
Why it matters
The trip offers real world data on charging intervals and range performance under typical family travel conditions across two major European markets. Direct user experience comparisons between French and UK networks inform infrastructure planning and highlight operational differences for cross border EV travel.
Irish EV charging firm Ezo secures £129m debt facility to fuel major UK rollout
Ezo has closed a €150m (£128.5m) investment grade, non recourse, senior debt facility from lenders including Aberdeen Investments and Standard Life to deploy more than 3,000 charge points representing over 100,000kW of capacity across the UK and Ireland. The chargers will be installed mainly under long term public private partnership style concessions where Ezo handles design, installation and maintenance, with a portion of electricity sales expected to exceed £1bn over 20 years shared with the public sector before infrastructure reverts to public ownership. The financing is believed to be the first of its type where funds install chargers across the UK and Ireland while revenues are ringfenced to repay the debt over seven years, with the UK set to become Ezo's primary market by 2027.
Why it matters
The PPP concession model offers public sector bodies a route to large scale charging infrastructure without upfront capital, while the ringfenced revenue structure and investment grade debt signal growing institutional confidence in EV charging as a bankable asset class. Procurement teams can benchmark the long term revenue sharing and asset reversion terms as a template for similar concession tenders.
UK innovation project trials bundling public EV charging costs into domestic electricity bills
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) Distribution has received £166,092 from Ofgem's Strategic Innovation Fund to trial the Roaming MPAN project, which aims to let consumers charge at public chargepoints and add the cost to their home electricity bill. The project is delivered in partnership with CENEX, Charge My Street, EDF Energy and Smart DCC, with SSEN managing deployment planning and CENEX leading stakeholder engagement and technical feasibility work. The initiative addresses the cost disparity between public and private EV charging in the UK.
Why it matters
If successful, the Roaming MPAN model could lower public charging costs for consumers and influence how charge point operators structure tariffs and billing systems. The project may also shape future procurement requirements for on street charging infrastructure by demonstrating a new commercial and technical framework for DNO and CPO collaboration.
North East Combined Authority opens market testing for £5 million LEVI Phase One charging concession
The North East Combined Authority is testing the market ahead of procuring Phase One of its Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure programme, worth approximately £5 million of public charging infrastructure across Durham, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear on a 15 year concession. The authority has £15.829 million of LEVI capital in total and is asking charge point operators to book slots with its ZEV team by 9 October 2026 to answer six questions, including whether they would bid for a concession model where the council retains ownership of chargepoints, the operator pays a fixed annual sum for five years, and then moves to revenue sharing.
Why it matters
This early market engagement gives CPOs a chance to shape the commercial terms of a significant regional deployment before formal procurement begins, with the concession structure and revenue split model likely to influence how operators price risk and returns over the 15 year contract term.
North East Combined Authority · Synchronicity Care Limited · Source
UK cuts domestic electricity VAT to zero from October, saving home EV chargers up to £40 per year
The UK Government will reduce domestic electricity VAT from 5% to 0% starting 1 October, benefiting electric vehicle owners who charge at home. David Martell, CEO of home charger company Andersen EV, estimates average EV drivers will save £20 to £25 annually on charging, with higher mileage drivers saving £35 to £40. Carwow calculates that charging a 100 kWh battery will drop from £26.11 to £24.87, a saving of £1.24 per charge.
Why it matters
The VAT cut improves the business case for residential charge point installations by lowering running costs for end users, potentially accelerating home charger demand. CPOs and installers serving the domestic market can use the savings as a sales argument when pitching to households considering EV adoption.
Policy & Market
Burnham domestic VAT cut widens cost gap for nine million UK drivers without driveways
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced a VAT cut on domestic electricity bills from October, but the measure will not benefit the nine million UK drivers without driveways who rely on public charging at 20 per cent VAT. EVA England CEO Vicky Edmonds called for structural reform in the Government's Cost of Public Charging Review, while char.gy chief executive John Lewis said the tax cut highlights the unfairness of the current VAT system and urged equalising VAT on public charging.
Why it matters
The policy deepens the cost divide between home and public charging, potentially deterring adoption among the millions who depend on street and destination infrastructure. CPOs and local authorities face renewed pressure to deliver affordable public charging as the VAT disparity becomes more pronounced.