Spending Review 2025: What’s in there for EVs?

• 12 June 2025
• Views

As will have been seen by anyone else who has read Rachel Reeves’ 136 page Spending Review (anyone?!), there are plenty of talking points across all government departments. For those of us keeping an eye on EV roll-out/charging infrastructure, there were a few particular headlines:

• Bigger picture – The government remains committed to its net zero goals, rather than walking away from them (as we’ve seen in other countries battling the same economic and geopolitical headwinds as we are).
• Spending headlines – £1.4bn allocated to supporting the continued uptake of EVs (including vans and HGVs) and £400m towards EV charging infrastructure.
• Funding? – The Department for Transport has committed to finding at least 5% savings and efficiencies and intends to reform and modernise using AI and making “technical efficiencies” (job cuts, presumably).  Given the above context, one would also expect the new Office for Value for Money (OfVfM) to take a very close look at the £950m Rapid Charging Fund (which has failed to make a single grant since its inception 5 years ago).

These spending commitments have been welcomed by a number of industry bodies and operators, including the BVLRA and ChargeUK. However, we are all reserving judgment until it becomes clearer how and where that cash is going to be deployed.

Calls will grow for funding to be used towards (to name a few examples):

• Reducing VAT on electricity supplied to public chargers (in line with VAT on home electricity supplies).
• Facilitating ‘cross-pavement’ charging for EV users (and would-be EV users) without access to off-street parking.
• Supporting Charge Point Operators (CPOs) to deliver chargers to otherwise unviable parts of the UK highways network.  

The question of VAT on public EV charging is being debated in Parliament this week during the Second Reading of the ‘Exemption from Value Added Tax (Public Electric Vehicle Charging Points) Bill’. So we will wait to see if there’s movement on this, which would really help new and prospective EV users.