Test driving ‘UK’s slowest electric car’ the Citroen Ami
The towns with the fewest electric car charging stations have been revealed with one region not having any bays at all in a blow to EV owners.
Britain’s top 10 fewest regions have been identified by Express.co.uk after analysing Department for Transport and ZapMap data from July 2023.
According to DfT stats, the Isles of Scilly is the only part of the UK with zero public charging devices.
Castle Point, a small borough in South Essex bordering Southend-on-Sea, has the least number of EV bays on the mainland.
According to the latest statistics, the region has three public charging bays but all of these are rapid plugs capable of topping up a car in around 30 minutes.
Melton in Leicestershire is third with nine charging stations and two rapid bays across the entire area. Fenland in East Anglia is next with just 10 bays, one of which is rapid charging.
Staffordshire Moorlands district, next to theme park Alton Towers, has 12 electric charging bays with only one of these rapid.
North Kesteven, a district in Sleaford, currently has 16 devices across the whole region with The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire next up with 17.
North East Derbyshire has 18 devices followed by Rutland near Peterborough which has 18 plugs.
Merthyr Tydfil rounds up the top 10 with 18 charging devices across the entire area while only two of these are rapid devices.
A DfT spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “We have invested more than £2billion to support the switch to electric vehicles, and there are now more than 45,000 public charging devices across the UK.
“The number of public chargepoints rose by 38 percent over the last year – a rate that puts us well on the way to 300,000 by 2030.”
However, when looking at data comparing charging devices per 100,000 people, larger areas are added to the list in a concern for road users.
Wirral makes it into the top 10 with the area having 9.7 devices per 100,000 people despite having over 30 bays.
Meanwhile, Bolton sneaks into fifth place with 12.2 devices per 100,000 people. Walsall, Sandwell as well as Ards and North Down make the top 10 with all three regions having 14 plugs or less per 100,000 people.
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Toddington Harper, CEO at GRIDSERVE explained it was vital no area got left behind in the transition to electric models.
“The number of EV charging points available is increasing at a faster rate than ever before, and it is important that no towns or regions are left behind.
“GRIDSERVE fully supports all initiatives that will deliver adequate EV charging throughout the UK. GRIDSERVE is also delivering charging infrastructure to serve towns and more rural locations.”
Express.co.uk has contacted the Isles of Scilly for comment.
