Mathilde Carlier
Research Expert covering transportation and logistics
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the United Kingdom - Statistics & facts
In October 2023, the United Kingdom government published the Plan for Drivers, an initiative that included measures to accelerate the country’s transition to zero-emission driving. These initiatives included plans to accelerate the distribution of the country’s public electric vehicle charging infrastructure and make private charging installation easier and cheaper. The UK is already investing in expanding its public charging network, with the volume of available public charging points in the country steadily rising since January 2015. Despite this increase, consumers believed there were not enough public charging points available to meet the demand as of September 2023. Many factors, including demographic features, play a part in this disconnect between consumer perception and governmental measures.
On-street charging was the most popular location for EV charging points, as nearly 16,200 of them were located along residential roads. Public and retail car parks were the second and third location types with the most chargers, but on-street charging was over triple the size of the public car park network. This focus on on-street charging seems in line with consumer opinion, as around 48 percent of UK residents surveyed in September 2022 thought governmental measures funding the installation of residential on-street charging points should be prioritized.
The Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant also illustrates some of these disparities, as most of the funding amount was allocated to car parks, with flats and renters coming in second. However, while car park charging infrastructure projects received the highest grant amount, most completed projects were for flats and renters. Despite efforts from the UK government to increase the public electric vehicle charging available in the country, these disparities present a complex reality that the government, charging providers, and EV drivers must contend with.
When it comes to EV charging, location is key
London had the largest network of public charging points, over twice the size of the network in southeast England, which was second in the charging infrastructure ranking. Despite its volume of available chargers, London did not rank among the largest European cities with the highest ratio of public charging stations per 1,000 inhabitants, scoring 50 percent based on that metric compared to Paris’ 63 percent. London was the UK region with the highest volume of people per square kilometer in 2021 and, while receiving the third highest grant amount from the On-street Residential Scheme, also recorded the most completed charging socket installations as part of this grant program.On-street charging was the most popular location for EV charging points, as nearly 16,200 of them were located along residential roads. Public and retail car parks were the second and third location types with the most chargers, but on-street charging was over triple the size of the public car park network. This focus on on-street charging seems in line with consumer opinion, as around 48 percent of UK residents surveyed in September 2022 thought governmental measures funding the installation of residential on-street charging points should be prioritized.
Public charging remains slow and difficult to access
Disparities in the UK’s charging infrastructure are observable on various levels, including regional. As of the fourth quarter of 2023, the alternating current charging network was over fivefold the size of the direct current charging network, which provides faster electric vehicle charging. The volume of rapid EV charging points has been steadily increasing in the UK, but its network is less concentrated than when considering the entire charging infrastructure. In July 2023, there were around 12.6 public rapid EV charging points per 100,000 residents, compared to nearly 65.7 charging points across types per 100,000 residents.The Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant also illustrates some of these disparities, as most of the funding amount was allocated to car parks, with flats and renters coming in second. However, while car park charging infrastructure projects received the highest grant amount, most completed projects were for flats and renters. Despite efforts from the UK government to increase the public electric vehicle charging available in the country, these disparities present a complex reality that the government, charging providers, and EV drivers must contend with.
