EV hub
EV hub is the new term used by the Department for Transport to identify a class of roadside facility which offers electric vehicle charging points instead of fuel. Any charging business can call itself an "EV hub", but this page refers to what the DfT will recognise. The exact definition given by England's National Highways in 2025 is (paraphrased):
It is functionally extremely similar to a trunk road service area, the key differences being:
- EV hubs can be up to 1 mile away from the trunk road they are serving, and still be signposted
- There must be at least 12 open access >150kW charging points, available 24 hours.
- There is no need to provide fuel or showers.
- While trunk road service areas have a motorway equivalent, EV hubs do not, and cannot be advertised from a motorway.
- While trunk road service area signs can be used on local A-roads across the UK, currently only National Highways can advertise EV hubs, which means only major English A-roads can get them.
Other requirements still apply, such as the need to provide free parking (10 car parking spaces plus motorbikes), safety lighting, CCTV, and between 8am and 8pm: access to a free telephone, free wifi, free toilets (including Changing Places), hot drinks and cooked hot food.
An EV hub for HGVs likely falls under the existing trunk road truckstop policy. It's not clear why the same wasn't done for cars: instead of creating a whole new class of roadside facility, the definition of a trunk road service area could merely have been changed to make selling fuel optional. Similarly, an EV hub for motorways likely falls under the existing rest area policy.
Layout
As modern safety standards for high-speed A-roads are so high, and the national highway sees adding new exits as creating new risks, you are very unlikely to find a new EV hub open directly on a major A-road, unlike the many legacy petrol stations. Instead, most will be built on the urban fringe close to a busy roundabout, where they will be able to attract the most trade.
This creates a problem, because the authorisation for 'EV hub' signs only applies to major A-roads, and not to local roads, but the guidance says that the signs should direct people to the EV hub entrance. This issue can be overcome with more paperwork.
On the few single carriageway trunk A-roads, an EV hub may be built at the side of the road. An example of this was given experimental signage at Checkley Wood which was authorised in October 2023.
Road Signs
Signs for EV hubs are functionally the same as those for A-road service areas, with the legend "Services" substituted for "EV hub". Any generic symbol that would be used on a "Services" sign can optionally be used here: example drawings show the electric car and a coffee cup, but a sign with no symbols at all is also valid.
Like with service areas, on A-roads with three lanes or more, a sign should be placed saying "EV hub 2 miles". This can be reduced to 1 mile, but EV hubs aren't supposed to appear on any signs any further away than that. The 'EV hub' can be given a name, though no examples have been given. "EV hub" should then be added to the existing direction signs to get people to the entrance.
When the new signs were authorised in September 2025, there were no qualifying examples, largely due to the need to be close to a non-motorway trunk road. This is likely to change now it's an official category, but it's also likely to lead to local councils inventing their own equivalent, which is currently not authorised. This would fall under the Generic Description of a Facility clause that sees many roundabouts have an exit labelled "Services".
No advice is so far given on how "EV hub" should be painted on the road (Stevenage uses "serv" and a charging symbol), or on electronic signs (the legend "NO EV CHARGING" is often used).