Number of public EV charging points in Britain soars year-on-year
The UK now plays home to some 50,000 publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging points, with 10,000 having been installed over the last two months alone.
Published 11th October 2023
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Pictured: EVs charging at the Welcome Break service station on the M6 at Corley. Image: InstaVolt
This rapid growth in the nation’s EV charging infrastructure stock means that, by August 2025, it is likely that there will be at least 100,000 public EV charging points available.
That is according to the latest data from Zapmap, a digital platform mapping EV charging points and providing live status data and journey planning services.
Zapmap has confirmed that, as of the last day of September 2023, there were almost 49,900 public EV charging points in the UK, spread across more than 29,700 locations.
This means that the total number of public charging points has soared by 43% within a year.
Zapmap estimates that, when private charging points are accounted for – such as those at homes or at workplaces that do not provide public access – the UK now hosts some 680,000 charging points in total.
Future growth
The UK Government is aiming for the nation to host 300,000 public charging points by 2030. Zapmap’s data suggest this target is feasible; it foresees the nation installing its 100,000th public charging point in or before August 2025, with exponential growth continuing after that.
The data does, however, re-flag concerns about the geographical distribution of public charging infrastructure.
At the moment, more than one-third (34.8%) of the UK’s total public charging stock is within Greater London. A further 11.7% is concentrated elsewhere in the South East of England.
Scotland and the West Midlands are also considerably well served. At the other end of the spectrum, Northern Ireland is host to less than 1% of the total stock and Wales less than 5%. Other underserved regions include North East England, the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber.
Related news: Report outlines steps to fast-track EV charger eployment, tackling challenges from finances to skills gaps
Let us not forget that the power has to be generated somewhere!
Renewable sources such as wind and solar are not within our control, and we can only have what nature makes available.
The only energy source, which is non-fossil, and totally within our control, is nuclear.
We may hope that fusion power will become available, but it is very difficult, and not an absolute certainty for future generations.
Sorry, but the truth is sometimes a little sobering.
But nice cars!!!