According to the figures, there are now almost 1 million electric car chargers in the UK, a figure which the industry says is proof that installations are keeping pace with increasing sales of battery-powered vehicles.
According to lobby group ChargeUK, there were 930,000 chargers in the UK at the end of June, but most were installed in homes and businesses, with only around 65,000 public chargers available.
Public chargers range from ultra-fast on motorways to slow chargers on lampposts.
Analysis by ChargeUK showed a new public charger was installed every 25 minutes in the spring quarter as companies raced to keep up with demand. Companies installed 5,100 public chargers during the second quarter of 2024, according to data company Zapmap.
The transition from polluting petrol and diesel vehicles to electric technology is seen as essential for the world to reduce carbon emissions and limit global warming. However, the perception of the slow rollout of charging points has been an important factor preventing some drivers from switching to electric cars.
Vicky Read, chief executive of ChargeUK, said the analysis suggested some of these fears may be misplaced.
She said: “In just over a decade, the UK charging sector has grown to become a major player in the green economy, providing the infrastructure that more than a million electric vehicle drivers today rely on and expanding rapidly to provide the charging they need. 2030 and beyond.”
There are 1.1 million electric vehicles on Britain’s roads, including 167,000 cars sold in the first half of this year, according to lobby group the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. That’s a 9% increase compared to the previous year, although the share of electricity sales rose only marginally to 16.6% as relatively higher initial prices and rising interest rates put off some buyers.
A quick guide
Electric car charging speed
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Not all chargers are created equal
More and more people are buying electric cars and for the first time they have to deal with charging. However, not all chargers are created equal and the number of units can be confusing.
Charging speed is measured in kilowatts (kW) of power, while battery capacity is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). For example, the Nissan Leaf has a battery capacity of 39 kWh, while the Tesla Model Y has 60 kWh.
Charging times vary depending on battery size: divide the battery size by the power to get a very rough idea of how many hours it will take to charge. (E.g. a 60kWh battery on a 22kW charger would take about three hours.) The faster the charge, the higher the cost.
Slow: 3kW to 6kW
Common in homes and on street chargers. Suitable for overnight charging. Plugging a UK three-pin plug into the mains at home will give you around 2.3kW – although this is not recommended.
Fast: 7 kW to 22 kW
It is found in urban places such as supermarkets and shopping malls. It can charge a smaller battery in a few hours.
Rapid: 23 kW to 100 kW
Motorway filling stations and dedicated public charging nodes. 50 kW could provide an 80% charge in less than an hour.
Ultra-fast: 100 kW and more
Some of the latest and most expensive cars can handle up to 270 kW, adding hundreds of kilometers of range in 10 minutes.
Analysis by ChargeUK by think tank New AutoMotive suggested the private sector believed it could meet the previous Conservative government’s target of 300,000 public charging points by 2030.
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In its general election manifesto, Labor promised to “accelerate the introduction of toll points”, although it did not specify how it would do this or whether it would stick to the 300,000 target.
However, the charging point industry fears the pace could slow if the government does not take steps to speed up connection to the electricity grid and make it easier to get permits and planning approvals for public chargers.
“While the outlook is positive, there is still work to be done,” Read said. “Delivering what the UK needs by 2030 means continuing to grow, ensuring that take-up grows in places that have been slowed by delays, and ensuring that the UK has a thriving electric car market so that investment in infrastructure continues at scale scale.”
Shell Recharge, owned by the FTSE 100 oil company, is the leader in providing the most public charging points in the UK with almost 9,000 public charging points. Pod Point and Connected Curb are the next largest companies in the competitive market at around 5,000 each.