EV charging and the road to infrastructure

Much has been made in 2026 of electrification – in relation to cleaner power, electric vehicles and the push to reduce exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets. Yet, some of the most recent signals of change come from a narrower, more practical place of how government talks about EV charging itself.

Tucked away in DESNZ’s latest clean power announcement, charging is framed less as a consumer upgrade and more as everyday infrastructure. Proposals to bring cross-pavement charging under permitted development, alongside forthcoming changes to building regulations, point to a simple diagnosis: the barrier to electric transport is no longer the technology itself or the willingness to switch, but the ease and reliability of charging. That challenge is especially acute for renters, flat-dwellers, and households without private space. Charging is being treated as something that should be simple to install, expected in new development, and available as a matter of course.

This reframing by the government is an attempt to align EV charging with how transport systems are planned. Streets are finite, kerbside space already hosts parking, loading, bus priority and cycle infrastructure: integrating charging into that mix thus requires coordination, not improvisation.

Developments in vehicle technology point in the same direction, even as they continue to be refined. Autonomous services such as Waymo operate as electric fleets and depend on charging that is predictable, scalable and embedded within the networks they serve. While recent testing incidents underline that autonomy itself still requires oversight and ironing out, they also highlight an important distinction: driverless systems are being designed to work within tightly managed, planned environments. Their viability assumes charging infrastructure that is deliberately planned and maintained, closer to depots or stations than optional add-ons. Even if widespread autonomy in the UK remains some way off, its trajectory reinforces the case for treating charging as strategic infrastructure rather than discretionary provision.

A similar logic underpins emerging reforms in public transport. In the North West of England, the shift toward bus franchising reflects an acknowledgment that deregulated, fragmented delivery has failed to guarantee coverage, affordability or reliability. By bringing routes, fares and standards back under public coordination, the region is prioritising system coherence over piecemeal provision. Buses and EVs may serve different markets, but the lesson remains the same: networks work best when they are designed, not left to assemble themselves.

There remain tensions to resolve, particularly around the higher cost of public charging compared with charging at home, but these developments suggest a more grounded approach is taking shape. EV charging is becoming less about persuasion and more about planning - a sign that electrification is beginning to embed itself into the fabric of transport, rather than sitting alongside it.