The public charging network has seen rapid but uneven growth according to the latest Department for Transport statistics.
The data for January 2021 reveals that there are currently 69 chargers per 100,000 population in London, but only 19 in the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber. The Midlands only has around 20 per 100,000 and the south and south west are marginally better at around 20-30 per 100,000. Scotland has 40 per 100,000 and Northern Ireland is the lowest across the United Kingdom at 17 charging devices per 100,000.
Interestingly, the roll-out of rapid chargers is even across the UK at roughly 4-5 per 100,000 across all regions except Scotland which has double – 10 per 100,000 and Northern Ireland which is ten times smaller, at just 1 rapid charger per 100,000 of population.
According to the DfT, the uneven geographical distribution of charging devices within the UK is due to “some UK local authorities have bid for UK Government funding for charging devices, and others have not. Most of
the provision of this infrastructure has been market-led, with individual charging networks and other businesses (such as hotels) choosing where to install devices”.
As of 4 January 2021, there were 20,775 public electric vehicle charging
devices in total available in the UK. Of these, 3,880 were rapid devices.
Since 2015, the number of public charging devices has grown rapidly,
with devices increasing by a quarter in 2020 alone. Rapid charging
devices have also grown quickly, increasing by 37% in the last year.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, 1,288 more devices were available in
total, up 7% on the previous quarter. 350 of these were rapid devices.
- image courtesy of Shutterstock
