Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have had discussions with vehicle manufacturers to work towards the standardisation of styles and shapes of electric charging systems in vehicles so that they are more compatible with a wider range of charging points.

Industry has been moving towards standardised connections between electric vehicles and chargepoints. In the UK we have already sought to address this by ensuring that all Government funded rapid chargepoints must be multi-standard, and work with all available types of plug-in vehicle. All Government-funded slower chargepoints must also have a Type 2 inlet on them – no other sockets are permitted. This position is supported by vehicle manufacturers, all of whom agree that Type 2 is the most appropriate standard for public charging in the UK.

The recent EU Directive (2014/94/EU) on the deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure, currently being transposed into UK law, will also facilitate the standardised provision of connectors for chargepoints across Europe.