Meeting the demand for charging

Susannah Grice, Manager at AFRY Management Consulting, discusses the roll out and utilisation of electric vehicle (EV) charge points in the UK.

The UK government has a target of reaching 300,000 public electric vehicle (EV) charge points by 2030¹. As of July 2024 there were approximately 67,000 public charge points in the UK, which represents a roughly threefold increase relative to 2020². Hence, the UK has seen significant progress with the rollout of public charge points, but there is still plenty of work to do in the next few years. 

The UK’s charge point operators (CPOs) will be key in meeting this target. For CPOs the rollout presents huge opportunities, as well as significant challenges. CPOs are operating in a sector where margins are tight and competition is fierce – currently, there are more than 60 CPOs in the UK³. 

To run a profitable EV charging business, CPOs need to maximise charge point utilisation. Utilisation refers to how much a charge point is being used, expressed as a percentage of total availability. Utilisation depends on three main factors:

1. Location: This determines a charge point’s access to demand for changing. For passenger cars, key drivers of charge point success include the number of EVs in the region, traffic flows, and the number and quality of points of interest, such as cafes and restaurants, supermarkets, gyms and other amenities. 
   
2. Competition: High-value locations may see more than one CPO deploying charge points with similar charging capacity. Where this happens, demand will be split across competitors depending on a range of factors including customer preference and brand loyalty.
   
3. Operational excellence: Employing best practices when operating charging points will help maximise utilisation and minimise cost. Key aspects include:
   • Hardware and software: Choosing appropriate hardware and software for the use case will allow high uptimes and high charging capacity at all temperatures.
   
   
   • A competitive pricing strategy: Pricing competitively will be key for gaining new customers, as well as retention of existing customers across all types of charge point users.
   
   
   • Geographical coverage: Having good regional or national coverage and visibility will improve accessibility and brand recognition among the public.

• Customer experience: Users can be attracted by, for example, a roof above the chargers, easy to move cables, user convenience, and good reliability.

To further explore the importance of location in successful siting of charge points, we can zoom in to look at the specific use case of Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs). HGVs make up around 6% of total vehicle miles in the UK, but contribute over 20% of total road transport emissions⁴ due to their heavy loads. As such, decarbonisation of HGVs will be an important step in the UKs transition to a low carbon economy.

Electrification of HGVs, with the associated roll-out of charging infrastructure, should be surprisingly attractive and achievable for a number of reasons. For example, in the UK, drivers of HGVs are permitted by law to drive for 4.5 hours before taking a mandated break of at least 45 minutes⁵. This break provides a perfect opportunity for drivers to charge their vehicles without adding to journey times. Similarly, the larger power requirements for HGV charge points mean they are potentially lucrative and attractive for CPOs to install and operate.

Key locational considerations in siting HGV charging points include:

• Proximity to major routeways: HGVs typically operate on long-haul routes (e.g. motorways, freight corridors or at logistic hubs), so charging stations must be located near these to ensure accessibility.
• Strong grid connection: HGVs will need high power chargers, which necessitates strong grid connections. 
• Driving patterns and rest stops: Mandatory rest stops mean there must be sufficient amenities available for use by HGV drivers.

The greatest challenge to the roll-out of EVs and the associated required infrastructure is likely to remain the collaboration between industry partners and the integration of all the moving parts required to successfully negotiate the transition.

AFRY is experienced in assisting CPOs in the push to roll-out charge points. We have developed an automated approach to assess charging locations and can deliver in-depth analysis on the competition and operational excellence for CPOs to help improve utilisation. Our projections of future charging demand for specific chargers at different location types are available alongside our EV uptake forecast to better inform these decisions. 

AFRY are a bronze sponsor of this year’s Transport + Energy Forum and will be exhibiting at the event. Find out more about the company here.

Sources

[1] Tenfold expansion in chargepoints by 2030 as government drives EV revolution – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

[2] EV charging statistics 2024 – Zapmap (zap-map.com)

[3] Map of electric charging points for electric cars UK: Zapmap (zap-map.com)

[4] Transport and environment statistics: 2023 – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

[5] HGV, bus and coach drivers hours – GOV>UK (www.gov.uk)