After years of rising numbers, the rate of new EV chargepoint installations fell for the first time ever in 2025, as operators struggle both with elusive profits, and grid connections that can take years to come to fruition.
Data from the Office for National Statistics supplied by Zapmap shows a total of 13,464 new charging devices came on-stream from January to November 2025, against 19,834 for 2024 in total, a 30% rollout-slowdown.
Similarly, while 974 new chargers went live in November 2024, in the same month last year just 370 new devices were activated.
Forecourt operators remain split on whether to add EV charging to their portfolios, with some firms, such as EG On The Move, considering “the moment is now” for firms to get plugs, and others, such as Frasers, judging that valeting remains a better investment for the foreseeable future.
The UK’s two best-established political parties are similarly polarised: Labour remains devoted to electric cars, and the Department for Transport insisting it is “building a charging network that works for all journeys”.
By contrast, the shadow Transport Secretary, Richard Holden, said the government remains “wilfully blind to the enormous cost of this obsession [net zero] to ordinary people”, adding: “With EV charger installations falling, Labour are making it even harder for people to switch to electric cars.”
