How to integrate energy and transport systems to build EV customer confidence

The UK’s shift to electric mobility is gathering momentum. Battery electric vehicles now make up 23.4 percent of all new car sales, rising from 18.7 percent in 2024. At the same time, infrastructure is scaling at pace. The UK passed 88,500 public chargepoints at the start of 2026, a year on year increase of 19 percent. This combination of rising demand and expanding supply signals genuine progress. It also shows that both customers and businesses are moving in step, creating a strong foundation for the next phase of growth.

With this progress, the focus is to build on what is already working and make the transition even smoother for the early majority. By convening industry leaders and experts together at our roundtable, clear action priorities emerged to turn this focus into outcomes. As energy and transport systems become more interdependent, the opportunity is to make the experience clearer, more predictable, and easier to navigate. Countries with higher EV adoption, such as Norway, Sweden and Denmark, demonstrate how aligning infrastructure, customer experience, and energy integration can accelerate confidence and uptake. The UK is now well positioned to move in the same direction, provided leaders continue to evolve standards, improve coordination, and strengthen the journey for every new EV driver.

Build EV customer confidence through consistent user experience

Growing interest in EVs means there is real opportunity to make life easier for customers, especially by simplifying charging language and giving clearer reassurance on battery health. Standardising technical language, improving the clarity of charge point labelling, and presenting reliable, simple information at the point of use will build trust among new users. These shifts will reduce friction, close perception gaps, and give customers the confidence that the system works.

Priority actions for leaders

For Government:

• Make EV pricing fairer to accelerate uptake among the early majority: Equalise VAT between public charging (20 percent) and home charging (five percent) so that those without driveways are not penalised.
• Introduce clear, universal battery transparency for used EVs: As we’re seeing elsewhere across Europe, introduce a ‘Battery health sticker’ system modelled on appliance efficiency labels to help second hand buyers understand battery condition and stabilise residual values.

For Private Sector:

• Adopt and use simple, unified language: Implement the recently released DfT/Zapmap naming standard (Standard, Standard Plus, Rapid, Ultra Rapid) to eliminate inconsistent terminology.
• Simplify the end to end customer journey: Reduce app fragmentation, improve accessibility, and ensure consistent instructions at charging locations to support first time drivers.
• Use equity mapping to ensure access where it is needed most: Adopt postcode level analysis to target underserved areas and deliver more equitable outcomes.

Unblock infrastructure deployment by focusing on system wide enablers

With EV infrastructure expanding, the next step is to make deployment even more efficient by improving coordination and simplifying the planning process between local authorities, Distribution Network Operators (DNOs), and charging providers. Addressing these challenges requires treating deployment as a system wide issue rather than a series of discrete projects. By establishing early alignment – together with coherent policy signals and shared data – organisations will accelerate delivery and strengthen investment resilience.

Priority actions for leaders:

For Government and Local Authorities:

• Bring DNOs into procurement earlier: Engage DNOs as early as possible, ideally at the Invitation to Tender stage to align capacity with local authority strategies and reduce connection backlogs.
• Prioritise clean energy and EV charging connections: Support policies that elevate these projects in grid queue management to accelerate deployment.
• Streamline approvals through stronger collaboration: Encourage joint planning between local authorities, DNOs, and charge point operators to identify optimal sites and avoid misaligned deployments.
• Plan for whole system value, not just near term utilisation: Incorporate societal benefits, including local economic value and future flexibility, when evaluating ROI.

For Private Sector:

• Leverage Ofgem’s £28bn investment to tackle local constraints: Prioritise bottleneck areas and align funding with projected charging demand.
• Pilot enabling technologies:Deploy Vehicle to Grid (V2G), battery storage, and community level energy models to improve utilisation and create new revenue opportunities.

Strengthen commercial and policy frameworks to create a stable, investable EV system

Investors, operators, and local authorities need stability to commit to long term, capital intensive infrastructure. Today, inconsistencies in policy direction and costs create uncertainty that slows progress and deters investment. A more transparent and predictable regulatory environment will encourage capital flows and support a system that is financially sustainable over time.

Priority actions for leaders:

For Government and Local Authorities:

• Provide clear, long term regulatory direction: Strengthen confidence in the ZEV Mandate and ensure operators can plan infrastructure around predictable policy timelines.
• Simplify and strengthen the business case through updated policy: Address challenges around key financial fundamentals such as standing charges, VAT, and business rates to provide investor confidence.
• Define ROI using whole system value: Encourage frameworks that incorporate societal benefits, local growth, and long term economic outcomes alongside traditional commercial measures.
• Reward flexibility and grid supportive technologies: Incentivise investment in V2G, local storage, and renewables to create commercially viable flexibility services.
• Support skills development: Work with training providers to develop a green skills curriculum that addresses the workforce gap in EV deployment and maintenance.

Turning alignment into action

The UK’s transition to electric mobility now depends on decisions that make the system simpler, fairer, and more joined up for customers and operators alike. To win over the early majority, the sector must deliver a charging experience that feels clear, reliable, and intuitive – the kind of experience that makes EV adoption a natural choice.

The real leap forward will come from breaking through today’s constraints: easing pressure on the grid, accelerating planning, and investing in the technologies and talent that can power a more resilient system. Ultimately, the future will belong to those who create commercial and policy environments stable enough for investors and operators to scale with conviction – driving an energy ecosystem ready for the demands of tomorrow.