New dedicated electric car parking bays petrol and diesel cars are banned from entering

Politicians have suggested the Government should look at changing Traffic Regulation Order rules to allow the installation of more “dedicated parking bays” for electric vehicles. Many car parks already have the ‘EV only’ bays which are often marked with a green or blue sticker.

These bays are usually positioned right next to an electric car charging station, allowing individuals to top-up while parked up. Petrol and diesel vehicles are not allowed to use the spaces and road users could be fined if they are caught out. In England and Wales, penalties can range from £235 to £100 with fees between £60 to £80 in Scotland.

The Committee of Public Accounts has called on the Government to outline its latest vision for charging infrastructure in the UK.

They said the file should include more information on how rules around EV parking bays could be "simplified".

The Committee explained: “It is developing its vision for a well–functioning public charging network, and the steps it will need to take next to ensure the network develops in the way intended. This should include how traffic regulation orders about dedicated parking bays for electric vehicles could be simplified.”

Electric car parking bays are usually found in the corner of supermarket car parks, motorways service stations and multistorey car parks.

All-electric forecourts only catering to EVs are already being installed with a 36-bay facility located in Braintree, Essex.

Motorists can quickly find designated electric car parking bays and charging stations using simple online search tools.

However, officials have stressed there were still barriers to changing the rules with new fast-track rules likely to be an issue for local authorities.

The Committee added: “There remain bottlenecks; for example, dedicating parking bays for electric vehicles requires a Traffic Regulation Order which can take a number of weeks to carry out.

“The Department replied that it is currently testing a digital system to speed up the application time to a couple weeks.

“When challenged on why it could take until 2026 to implement changes from a review to assess whether Traffic Regulation Orders were needed at all, the Department stated that removing these orders might take choices away from local authorities to decide on the mix of parking they need.”