Electric car charger numbers increase by 37 per cent

The number of public electric car charging points in the UK rose by 37 per cent last year, according to new figures released by the Department for Transport (DfT).

Drawn from charger location mapping company Zap-Map, the figures show that as of January 1, 2022, there were 28,375 public chargers available across the country of which 5,156 were rapid chargers.

This increase means that there are 7,600 additional chargers compared with January 1, 2021, while the number of rapid devices has increased by 33 per cent – an extra 1,276 chargers.

Rapid chargers are classified as those whose fastest charging power is rated at 25kW and above.

It means that there are now 42 devices per 100,000 people – something that will need to be increased as the uptake of EV continues. There is also a distinct difference in charger numbers across the UK. In London, for instance, there are 102 chargers for every 100,000 people, while Scotland has 52 chargers for every 100,000 people.

This comes in above the South East, North East, South West and Wales with 39, 36, 32 and 33 chargers per 100,000 people respectively.

Northern Ireland has the lowest number of chargers per 100,000 people in the UK, with just 18 devices. This was followed by the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber with 24 and 26 devices per 100,000 people respectively.

London saw the greatest increase at 16.4 per cent, while Northern Ireland and the North West experienced the smallest increases at 3.9 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively.

The DfT did highlight that Zap-Map’s figures only look at the number of charging devices in total and doesn’t account for those units capable of charging multiple vehicles at once.