The number of electric vehicle chargers in the UK has seen a sharp rise as more drivers make the shift to environmentally friendly travel options.
Research showed a 35 per cent increase in the number of chargers across the UK compared with last year.
As of the end of March, there are 59,590 public charging devices installed in the UK, reflecting the nation’s need for more easily available stations as electric vehicles become more common.
More than 5,500 charge points were installed in the first quarter of 2024, at a rate of over 1,900 per month.
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London has the most charging points installed
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Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and COO at Zapmap, which commissioned the research, said: “It’s fantastic to see that the strong pace of charger installations seen last year has already been exceeded in the first quarter of 2024.
“In particular, high-powered chargers and hubs are showing great momentum, with new hubs and chargers popping up everywhere from supermarkets to motorway services and retail outlets.
“Our aim at Zapmap is both to help drivers find suitable, reliable chargers when they are out and about and also to give petrol and diesel drivers the confidence to make the switch.
“It is undoubtedly great news for electric car drivers that the sheer number and as well as the variety of charging options are improving every month.”
Out of the 5,725 public chargers installed in the first few months of the year, 25 per cent of them (1,436) are high-powered devices designed for charging as quickly as possible.
A further 832 of these are the speediest chargers available with 150kwh, known as ultra-rapid devices.
InstaVolt, Tesla, BP pulse, Osprey and GRIDSERVE installed 839 chargers in the first three months of the year, to help meet the demands of drivers.
Notably, Northern Ireland saw its first two hubs installed by EV charging group IONITY at the Kennedy Centre, Belfast, and at Toomebridge by Lough Neagh.
Elsewhere, in the South West of England, 11 new hubs opened
during January, February and March with a total of 30 high-power charging hubs now
available to drivers.
In the East of England, this region saw the most chargers
installed with 42 hubs available from March, followed by Scotland with 39 and
the North West with 38.
At present, the majority of chargers (16,405) are located in
Greater London. However, the rest of the UK is seeing an increase in figures,
just not at the same growing rate as the capital.
London saw an increase of just over four per cent in the
first three months of the year, while the rest of the UK saw the number of
on-street chargers increase from 4,325 in December to 5,070 at the end of March.
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Government’s plans to have 80 per cent of new cars and 70 per cent of new vans sold in the UK be zero emission by 2030
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The uptake in chargers follows the Government’s ambitious plans to have 80 per cent of new cars and 70 per cent of new vans sold in the UK be zero emission by 2030, increasing to 100 per cent by 2035.
