New research has revealed the UK’s top 20 worst areas for rapid Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points.
The research, compiled by Aston Barclay, analysed Department for Transport (DfT) statistics to compare available rapid charging devices with the total number of registered EVs.
As of April 2024, the UK has 11,590 publicly available rapid charging points while the number of registered electric battery vehicles on the road exceeds 941,692. This amounts to one rapid charger for every 81 EV drivers.
But charging points aren’t distributed evenly throughout the country and some areas are disproportionately affected. In Portsmouth, there is just one rapid charger per 2,886 vehicles, while Southampton and Stockport face similar disparities.
Rapid chargers can significantly decrease the time it takes to fully charge a vehicle, reducing charging times from 6-8 hours to 30 minutes. Having accessible, convenient and efficient charging methods will be essential to the continued growth of the EV industry.
On this, Albert Parnell, group EV Lead at Aston Barclay has said: “As more drivers across the UK make the change to more sustainable modes of transport, we encourage more investment for efficient charging methods to be implemented across the UK.”
The research found that the following areas have the most significant discrepancy between the number of EV drivers to rapid EV charging points:
1. Portsmouth (2,886)
2. Southampton (2,285)
3. Stockport (1,482)
4. Swindon (985)
5. Redditch (810)
6. Wokingham (738)
7. Ribble Valley (631)
8. Kensington and Chelsea (622)
9. Isle of Wight (618)
10. Woking (575)
11. Peterborough (551)
12. South Hams (348)
13. Leeds (330)
14. Lewes (305)
15. Renfrewshire (304)
16. Reading (296)
17. Chesterfield (291)
18. Three Rivers (285)
19. North East Derbyshire (266)
20. Windsor and Maidenhead (253)
