Device counters at Zapmap calculate that Britain has crossed the threshold of 50,000 public EV chargers. On current rates of deployment, the nation will plug in its 100,000th giver of vehicle-shifting amps in August 2025, its analysts believe.
The 50k tape was breasted with en-route provider MFG EV Power installing an ultra-rapid device at a service station in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, Zapmap reports.
The milestone reflects encouraging growth, the pioneering firm argues, in two areas of the country’s charge point infrastructure. Last week, its latest quarterly figures showed that the number of ultra-rapid charge points in the UK increased by 68% since September 2022. Britain’s tally of slow chargers rose by the same extent.
This month’s 50,000 milestone follows hot on the heels of the 40,000 mark, surpassed in February, only nine month ago. GeniePoint’s plugging in and sparking up of their device at a Morrisons supermarket in Southport got the nation over the 40k line.
Looking back further, the UK hit 30,000 charging devices in February 2022 with a bp pulse device installed in Botany Bay, in non-antipodean Broadstairs, Kent
September 2020’s 20,000 milestone came courtesy of a Pod Point installation at a Tesco superstore in Scarborough.
InstaVolt’s plugging in of its device in August 2018 at Meadowfield Filling Station got the nation over our 10,000 line.
Zapmap began in 2014 with part of its initial capital provided by Dale Vince’s Ecotricity. In 2018 and 2019 rival Good Energy contributed seed investment, adding in 2022 GBP3.7 million more. At the same time, Fleetcar pumped in GBP5.3 million.
Co-founder Melanie Shufflebotham observed: “Hitting 50,000 public charging devices is a really important milestone for the country and illustrates the sea change behind the increased rate of charge point installations.
“Alongside the number of high-power charging hubs in the UK more than doubling in the past year, these are changes that bring real benefits to electric car drivers up and down the country.”
ChargeUK’s chair Ian Johnson said: “This is a testament to the investment, vision and hard work of our members.
“The rate of deployment is increasing all the time“, Johnson went on. In the last twelve months alone, the public network has increased by 43%. However, we can go further and faster with the right policies and help from government to remove barriers that constrain the roll-out.
“Public chargers are part of a wider picture. The way people charge their EV depends on their lifestyle, many people charge at home, others charge on their street, whilst many will either charge at destinations or en route on their journeys.
Ade Thomas, founder of World EV Day, noted: “There has been a great deal of negative press about the number of public chargers.
“With the 50,000 threshold having been hit, on the UK’s journey to being an EV nation, we should now start really talking up what a great job the British green tech sector are doing bringing this huge number of EV chargers online, and all in super quick time.”
