For decades, motorway service areas were the default answer to one question: where do you stop on a long journey? They were built for internal combustion, where five minutes at the pump was the whole story. With EVs, the story is different. The “best stop” is no longer about fuel. It is about time well spent.
Motorway services are still important. But they are no longer automatically the best choice. In 2026, EV road trips are being shaped by three forces: grid reality, driver behaviour, and a fast-changing landscape of charging hubs that do not need to sit behind a slip road and a WHSmith.
Why Motorway Services Struggle With EV Reality
Motorway sites face the same core limitation again and again: power. Ultra-rapid charging is not a vending machine you can bolt onto a tarmac corner. It requires serious grid capacity, long lead times, and expensive upgrades. That is why some service areas end up with “just enough” charging rather than “enough to feel easy” at peak travel times.
Government strategy recognises this challenge, with specific focus on improving provision along the strategic road network. The direction is clear: reliable, accessible infrastructure needs to arrive ahead of demand.
The New King Is Not a Place, It’s a Pattern
EV drivers do not stop purely to refuel. They stop to buy time. That is why the strongest charging locations increasingly follow a simple pattern: they sit where you can do something valuable while the car charges.
The best stops usually have predictable access, clear layouts, and amenities you would choose even if you were not charging. This is not about luxury. It is about reducing wasted minutes. A stop that gives you food, toilets, shelter, and a useful errand wins. A stop that gives you a queue, a broken bay, and a 20-minute hunt for the right entrance loses.
This is where a single, reliable charging app experience matters. When you can find, navigate, and start a session smoothly, you remove the biggest stress in long-distance EV travel: uncertainty. Using the ONEEV app where supported is one way to keep that process consistent across different networks.
Even Signage Can Work Against Drivers
One of the quiet problems for motorway and major A-road charging is visibility. If drivers cannot easily spot a charging location from the road network, it may as well not exist when anxiety kicks in. Recent reporting has highlighted how strict criteria can affect whether charging locations qualify for road signage in practice.
The result is counterintuitive: you can have real infrastructure nearby, but drivers still feel like they are gambling because it is not obvious, not signposted, or not designed around the reality of a 20 to 35-minute stop.
What EV Road Trips Look Like Now
- Fewer “fuel stops”, more “useful stops”: charging becomes part of a planned break, not a detour.
- More value in predictable locations: sites with clear access and amenities reduce stress.
- Resilience matters more than speed: a reliable 150kW experience can beat an unreliable headline figure.
- Drivers plan around confidence: the best journeys are the ones that feel calm and repeatable.
Motorway services will still play a major role. They are just no longer the unquestioned default. The EV era is turning the road trip into something more deliberate: less about the pump, more about the pause.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are motorway service areas improving for EV charging?
Yes, but progress is constrained by grid capacity, site design, and delivery timelines. Government strategy continues to focus on improving charging provision along the strategic road network.
Do I have to charge at motorway services on long journeys?
No. Many drivers choose alternative hubs that offer better amenities, simpler access, or more predictable availability, depending on route and timing.
What is the simplest way to reduce range anxiety on a road trip?
Use a consistent planning and payment approach, and choose stops where you can comfortably spend the time. Removing uncertainty matters more than chasing theoretical maximum speed.
