UK electric car charging roll-out gathers pace but regional inequality persists

The latest figures from the Office of Zero Emissions Vehicles (OZEV) show there’s been a 47 per cent increase in the number of electric car charge point installations across the UK in the last 12 months. However, the numbers also highlight the huge regional disparity in provision of this vital infrastructure for electric car drivers. 

As of early July 2024, there were 64,632 chargers installed across the UK, says OZEV. Yet, while Londoners enjoy 234 charge points per 100,000 of population and there are 96 chargers per 100k across the UK as a whole, the figure for charge points in Northern Ireland is a woeful 32 chargers per 100k. Other regions that look like charging deserts include Yorkshire and the Humber, the North West, the East Midlands, the North East and East of England, none of which can muster more than 70 or so chargers per 100k of population. Scotland as a whole is the ‘best of the rest’ outside London, with 103 chargers per 100k people, but that’s considerably less than half the level of provision across the capital.

However, when broken down into the power capacity of installed charge points - which is important because higher power typically means faster charging - Scotland comes top of the table with 26.1 chargers of 50kW and above per 100,000 of population, compared to 13.7 charge points per 100k in London, and a dire 7.9 more powerful public chargers per 100k in Northern Ireland. Across the UK there is an average of 18.5 charge points of 50kW or above per 100,000 of population.

The figures also shine a spotlight on the difference in EV charge point provision between urban and rural areas, with 85.1 per cent of chargers installed in cities and towns, and just 7.5 per cent of charge points serving villages.

OZEV has also classified chargers by type of location, with July’s figures revealing 48 per cent of the total are so-called ‘destination chargers’, while 37 per cent are ‘on street chargers’ with 6 per cent described as ‘en route’.

Despite the regional variations in charge point provision, the National Infrastructure Commission reported in May that the UK is on track to meet the previous government’s target of 300,000 public charge points by 2030. Installer trade body Trade UK says its members are installing charge points at record pace, but government intervention is needed to improve how they work with electricity providers and speed up grid connections. 

Research by our parent company Carwow from earlier this month supports the impression that charger roll-out is not happening at a uniform pace across the UK’s regions, with the regional inequality in charging facilities often being mirrored by levels of plug-in car uptake. 

According to data from the DVLA and the Department for Transport, Bracknell Forest is the UK area with the most plug-in vehicles per public charger with a total of 619. Next come East Dunbartonshire (525) and Windsor and Maidenhead (516). At the other end of the scale, Dundee City only has just over 16 EVs and plug-in hybrids per public charger and the Highland region of Scotland places second with a ratio of 17.5 plug-in cars per charger.

Click here for our list of the fastest charging electric cars...