The UK now has almost 54,000 public charge points for EVs after the number of new installations rose by 45 per cent last year, according to newly released figures.
Charge point mapping provider Zapmap said the rate of new chargers being put in went from 730 per month during 2022 to 1,400 devices a month last year – nearly double the installation rate.
It meant that October saw the UK pass the 50,000 public charger milestone, with 53,906 now in place at 31,056 sites.
Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder of Zapmap, said: ‘Overall, 2023 was a very good year for EV charging, with the rate of installation showing record growth, particularly for the higher-powered chargers to support EV drivers on longer journeys.
‘Zapmap’s focus continues to be on providing EV drivers with the information they need to find reliable, available charging when they are out and about.
‘While less than 3% of EV drivers would go back to petrol/diesel, we know that EV drivers want more chargers and a better charger experience.’
The news came on the heels of the SMMT’s end-of-year results, which showed that almost 315,000 electric vehicles were sold in the UK last year, meaning there were 51 per cent more EVs on the roads than at the end of 2022.
There was also a 52 per cent rise in the number of high-powered chargers installed in the UK during 2023, taking them to a total of 10,500 devices across more than 5,000 locations by the end of the year.
Most of the growth focused on ultra-rapid chargers capable of delivering speeds of more than 100kW.
These can add the most amount of charge in the shortest time, with compatible EVs able to take on 100 miles of range in around 20 minutes.
At the end of 2023, 4,870 of these chargers were in place in the UK.
The number of sites with more than six rapid or ultra-rapid chargers – often referred to as ‘hubs’ – went up by 144 per cent, rising from 108 sites at the end of December 2022 to 264 by the end of 2023.
