Electric car drivers set to benefit from hundreds of new rapid chargers across the UK
There are more than 8,700 rapid or ultra-rapid chargers across the UK
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Hundreds of new rapid and ultra-rapid electric car charging points have been installed across the UK in a bid to get more drivers choose an EV.
Nine of 12 regions across the UK have installed more than 100 rapid chargers over the course of the past year, new research has shown.
According to data from ZapMap, there are 8,772 rapid and ultra-rapid EV charging devices across 4,657 different locations.
In July, 325 new rapid and ultra-rapid chargers were installed, marking a 92 per cent increase in the total number of fast chargers compared to July 2022.
Instavolt has the highest number of rapid or ultra-rapid chargers
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Rapid and ultra-rapid chargers only make up 20 per cent of total devices, but they do account for 60 per cent of the total capacity.
It is estimated that around 300,000 electric car charging stations will be required by the end of the decade to cope with demand for the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles.
Melanie Shufflebotham, chief operating officer at ZapMap, said it was positive to see motorists around the UK benefit from more installations of chargers.
She added: “In 2023 the pace of installation of the critical ultra-rapid charging network has really picked up, with 42 per cent more chargers versus the beginning of the year.
“Essential for supporting electric vehicle drivers on longer journeys, it is encouraging to see that they are being installed across the country, particularly in erstwhile poorly served areas of Wales, Northern Ireland and the North East.”
Instavolt has the highest number of rapid or ultra-rapid charging points in the UK, with almost 1,200 chargers at the end of July 2023.
The charge point operator is followed by BP Pulse with 1,117 and the Tesla Supercharger network with 1,049 chargers.
Other brands also make up a significant number of charging stations including GeniePoint, Osprey Charging, ChargePlace Scotland and Gridserve.
Quentin Willson, founder of FairCharge, told the Guardian that range anxiety was not as big of a problem as it once was, mainly as a result of the growing charging network.
Most new electric cars come as standard with ranges of between 200 and 250 miles of range, allowing motorists to have confidence in their vehicles to take them where they need to go.
However, Willson did note that “blockages” do exist with the rollout of EV chargers, namely electricity grid connections.
The former Top Gear host also said that while London had the most amount of chargers, there are areas of South East England and Greater London that have very poor access.
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Around 300,000 chargers will be needed 2030
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Greater London has almost one-third of the total number of chargers, followed by the South East of England, Scotland and the West Midlands.
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