Electric vehicle drivers will have to pay £5 to charge their car at motorway charging stations as Ecotricity brings in a flat-fee for its Electric Highway.

Ecotricity is the only provider of motorway EV charging stations in the UK and the fee for a 20-minute rapid charge will be introduced across all 300 charging stations by 5 August. It used to offer free access to the charging points.

The green electricity supplier said that since usage trebled in 2015 and an increase in electric cars on the road it is necessary to start charging for the service in order to maintain and grow the network.

The nearly 40,000 members of the Electric Highway will need to download an app on their phone to make payments and will allow them to access a live feed of the entire network and plan journeys.

Ecotricity believes that by 2030 every new car should be electric, and that by 2040 they should be the only cars on the road.

The supplier also announced earlier this year its plans to build some of Britain’s first hybrid energy parks after receiving planning permission to build two new solar farms to join existing windfarms.