The rollout of electric vehicle chargers across Britain is “patchy”, behind deadline and ignores the needs of disabled drivers, the parliamentary spending watchdog has found.

A report published by the public accounts committee (PAC) warned that the charging points needed to give drivers confidence for the switch to EVs were still lacking, particularly on Britain’s biggest roads.

MPs on the committee warned that the rollout risked “baking serious injustice” into the nation’s infrastructure, with drivers with disabilities “left behind” and those reliant on public chargers left paying much more than those able to charge at home.

While the PAC report said the government was on track to reach a promised target of 300,000 charging points by 2030, there were stark regional divides, with too few installed outside south-east England and London, where approaching half (43%) of public chargers are located.

Drivers reliant on public charge points also pay significantly more, partly due to higher rates of VAT, levied at 20% compared with 5% for domestic bills – exacerbating inequalities for those who live in flats or houses without off-street parking.

The committee found many drivers with disabilities are deterred from using EVs due to the location and setup of charge points. There is not a single charge point in the UK that is fully compliant with accessibility standards which the Department for Transport (DfT) established with the Motability Foundation charity more than two years ago, the MPs reported.

One-third of motorway service areas still do not have the minimum of six ultra-rapid chargers that the DfT had targeted by 2023 – while the government has yet to dole out any of the £950m announced in 2020 to future-proof electricity capacity on strategic roads.

A government programme to help fund local authorities in England to install charge points where most needed was also delayed, the committee found, with only 10 of 78 installation projects approved for delivery at October 2024, against a March 2025 deadline.

The PAC chair, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said it was imperative that delays were addressed and no groups of drivers were left behind in the switch to electric.

He said: “It is welcome to see the EV charging rollout beginning to ramp up, with all the implicit benefits that bearing down on emissions will bring. But this rollout is not currently taking place equally across the nation.

“Delivering thousands of points allowing Londoners to easily zip around the capital while leaving the rest of the UK’s network patchy is obviously an outcome to be avoided.

“Drivers need confidence that they can use an EV without any risk of getting stranded, or they won’t make the switch.”

Research this week showed a quarter of England’s most important A-roads have electric car charging “cold spots”, according to government figures that suggest significant gaps remain in the infrastructure needed to switch away from fossil fuels.

Clifton-Brown added: “It is also of deep concern that the needs of disabled drivers are being ignored. Not a single charge point in the country is currently fully accessible. We are risking baking a serious injustice into the fabric of a major part of our national infrastructure.

“Government similarly needs to understand how to remedy financial inequalities for those who have no choice but to use public charge points.”

A DfT spokesperson said the department was rolling out chargers at “lightning pace”, with more than 74,000 public chargers in place and another one added to its network every 28 minutes.

They said: “We’ve seen a 53% boost in the number of chargers within a mile of the strategic road network, and a 45% rise in charge points across rural areas in 2024, helping ensure drivers are always close to a socket, no matter where they are,” adding that the government was investing more than £2.3bn to support the switch to EVs.

Addressing the committee’s concerns over accessibility, the spokesperson added: “The government is dedicated to ensuring all electric vehicle drivers, including those with disabilities, can easily access public charge points that meet their needs. We are continuing to work with industry to increase adoption of standards for accessible EV charging infrastructure.”