MFG faces order to remove EV chargers after planning refusal upheld
By Eve
UK forecourt operator MFG may be forced to dismantle installed EV charging infrastructure after losing a planning appeal. The company had erected chargers without securing the necessary planning consent, and local authorities have now upheld enforcement action requiring their removal. The case underscores the regulatory risks facing charge point operators who proceed with installations before obtaining proper approvals.
Why it matters
The ruling serves as a warning to CPOs and site developers that retrospective planning applications carry real enforcement risk, potentially forcing costly removal of live charging assets. It highlights the importance of securing all consents before capital deployment, particularly as local planning scrutiny of EV infrastructure intensifies across the UK.
Source
- Source
- forecourttrader.co.uk
- Original title
- “MFG may have to rip out EV chargers after losing planning battle”
- Published
- 30 April 2026 (date approximate)
- Updated
- 16 July 2026
In this story
- Topic
- EV Charging
- Place
- United Kingdom
- Tag
- MFG
Related news
MFG extends 20p per kWh discount on ultra-rapid charging for app users
Motor Fuel Group has extended a 25% discount on ultra-rapid charging, reducing prices from 79p to 59p per kWh for MFG Connect App customers. The operator currently runs more than 1,000 devices (150kW to 400kW) across nearly 600 locations, including 300 chargers at Morrisons forecourts. MFG plans to invest £400 million by 2030 to deploy over 3,000 ultra-rapid chargers across 500 sites.
Why it matters
The pricing move and £400 million capital commitment signal aggressive expansion by the UK's largest forecourt operator, intensifying competition for ultra-rapid charging contracts at retail and motorway sites. Procurement teams and site hosts should note MFG's scale ambitions and willingness to use promotional pricing to build customer loyalty during network buildout.
Electrify America operates 6,029 DC fast-charging ports across 1,191 US sites
Electrify America now runs 6,029 DC fast-charging ports at 1,191 locations in the United States, making it the second largest DC charging network after Tesla Supercharger, according to InsideEVs citing the US Department of Energy's Alternative Fuels Data Center. Over the past year, the network's port count grew by 16% and station count by around 10%, with 202 ports added in the second quarter alone, representing 6.7% of all US DC fast-charging ports. ChargePoint, the third largest operator, installed 333 ports in the same quarter and holds 6.1% market share, while Walmart's network added more ports than any other non-Tesla company in the quarter, reaching 916 ports across 110 stations.
Why it matters
The figures confirm Electrify America's dominant position among non-Tesla networks and provide procurement teams with current scale benchmarks for the US fast-charging market. Walmart's aggressive second quarter rollout signals a major retail-led expansion that could reshape site partnership opportunities for CPOs and equipment suppliers.
Queue and reservation hardware shifts from niche to core layer as high utilisation sites hit capacity limits
The global market for public EV charging queue and reservation hardware is entering structural expansion as charge point operators face physical limits at high utilisation sites, according to an IndexBox report entering 2026. Demand is splitting between integrated systems for new high power hubs and retrofit solutions for existing stations. The hardware includes integrated displays, sensors, payment terminals, communication modules and access controllers, with supply chains characterised by validation requirements where approved vendor status with major CPOs and Tier 1 integrators often matters more than unit cost.
Why it matters
CPOs planning procurement must now evaluate queue management as core infrastructure rather than optional add on, with vendor selection increasingly driven by validation and integration partnerships rather than price alone. The bifurcation between new build and retrofit creates distinct channel and specification strategies for operators upgrading networks.