Drivers are most likely to find ultra-rapid EV chargers at service stations and retail car parks, according to the latest figures released by Zapmap. At the end of September, there were 1,457 ultra-rapid devices at service stations across the UK – an increase of 82% on the previous year – and 892 at retail car parks, a 61% increase year-on-year.
Overall, there were almost 50,000 public charging devices installed across the UK as of the end of September 2023. This represents year-on-year growth of more than 43%. The new statistics also reveal that the number of higher-powered charging points has grown by over 40% since September 2022, while lower-powered devices display year-on-year growth of 44%.
The new figures break these categories down further, however. They show that ultra-rapid chargers – often found near motorways and A-roads – and slow charge points – mostly found on residential streets – exhibit the most impressive year-on-year growth of the different power bandings.
The number of ultra-rapid charge points in the UK has increased by 68% since September 2022, with the number of slow chargers increasing by almost 68% as well. Over the course of the year, 5,749 slow devices have been installed across the country, alongside 1,568 ultra-rapid devices – which are significantly more costly to install.
Zapmap also found that the number of ultra-rapid charging hubs with six or more devices (excluding non-public Tesla devices) has also shown impressive year-on-year growth of 123%. At the end of September, there were 196 locations across the UK with six or more ultra-rapid devices – up from 88 in September 2022.
Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and COO at Zapmap, said: “The number of high-power charging hubs in the UK has more than doubled in the last year, and this is great news for electric car drivers. With almost 200 high-power charging hubs up and down the country, these latest figures should give electric car drivers the confidence to drive any length of journey in their EV.”
