CV Show 2025

EV charging point installation races ahead

EV charging point installation races ahead

EV charge point installations rose 37% in early 2024, with ChargeUK pledging £6 billion by 2030 to improve infrastructure.

Published 18 Jun 2024By CV Show News

One of the reasons some transport firms give for refusing to buy electric vehicles is the lack of a proper charging infrastructure across the country. But the latest data from Zapmap shows the overall rate of installation in the first four months of 2024 has increased by almost 37% compared with the average across 2023. Meanwhile, members of industry trade body ChargeUK have pledged to invest £6 billion before 2030 to ensure the UK has the right charging solutions in the right place.

At the end of April Zapmap, which supplies the official charge point statistics to the Department for Transport (DfT), said there were 61,232 electric vehicle (EV) charge points in the UK, across 32,697 locations. Of these, 36,257 are rated at 8kW or lower, 13,051 between 8kW and 49kW, 6,936 between 50kW and 149kW, and 4,938 at 150kW and above.

Hitting 60,000 public charging stations is an extremely significant milestone for electric car drivers across the country,

said Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and chief operating officer at Zapmap.

This is really just the start. There’s a real momentum behind the increased rate of charge point installations up and down the country.

The increase is crucial given that a lack of confidence in public infrastructure is commonly cited as one of the top two significant obstacles to widespread EV adoption, alongside the upfront cost of the vehicles themselves. Ideally, the number of charge points should be ahead of the increase in the number of EVs to reassure fleets and consumers, but the number of charge points needed is still up for debate.

The Government’s ambition is for there to be at least 300,000 public charge points by 2030. In 2021, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) stated that at least 2.3 million charge points would be needed nationwide by that date.

AdvertisementRHA Training