Official Statistics

Electric vehicle charging device statistics: April 2023

Published 4 May 2023

About this release

This release presents experimental statistics on the number of publicly available electric vehicle charging devices in the UK, broken down by Local Authority for January to March 2023. Data is provided by the electric vehicle and charging point platform Zapmap and is correct as at midnight 1 April 2023.

The timeline of this publication series includes periods of coronavirus (COVID-19) related restrictions. As such, figures in this release may be affected and should be interpreted with caution.

The next quarterly report is scheduled for release in July 2023.

We welcome feedback this quarterly publication. If you have any feedback or questions, please email the environment statistics team.

Headline figures

As of 1 April 2023, there were 40,150 public electric vehicle charging devices installed in the UK, within which:

Charging Speed:

• 7,647 were rated “rapid” devices or above, this represents 19% of all charging devices
• 22,338 were rated “fast” chargers, this represents 56% of all charging devices

Location:

• 19,044 were designated as “destination” chargers, this represents 47% of all charging devices
• 13,571 were designated as “on street” chargers, this represents 34% of all charging devices

Compared to 1 January 2023:

• total installed devices increased by 3,095, an increase of 8%
• rapid charging or above devices increased by 760, an increase of 11%
• there was an increase in total charging devices and those rated rapid or above in all regions of the UK

Charging device speed definition, kilowatts (kW)

Total Devices represent publicly available charging devices at all speeds, including: slow, fast, rapid and ultra-rapid devices

Rapid charging or above devices are those whose fastest connector is rated at 25kW and above and includes chargepoints classified as either rapid or ultra-rapid

• Slow Charging Devices represents 3kW to 6kW
• Fast Charging Devices represents 7kW to 22kW
• Rapid Charging Devices represents 25kW to 100kW
• Ultra Rapid Charging Devices represents 100kW plus

UK growth in public charging devices

Since 1 April 2022 the number of installed public devices has increased by 9,860, a 33% increase. The number of rapid charging or above devices increased by 39%, an additional 2,153 public devices installed.

Table EVCD_01a and Table EVCD_01b provide a breakdown of public charging devices in each local authority in the UK whilst Table EVCD_02a shows the change in the number of devices since 2015. These tables are published alongside this report.

Chart 1: Installed UK public charging devices, midnight, 1 of month, since 2015 (table EVCD_02)

Chart 2: Installed UK public rapid charging or above devices, midnight, 1 of month, since 2015 (table EVCD_02)

Speed of charging devices

Chart 3: Public charging devices by charging speed 1 April 2023 (table EVCD_02b)

Chart 3 compares the relative growth in charging devices seen across all speed categories between 1 April 2022 and 1 April 2023. Proportionately, the largest increase in installations in the last quarter was within the ultra-rapid device category, which increased by 16% (albeit from a lower base than other categories), accounting for 366 charging devices. Ultra-rapid charging devices are still the smallest overall category with 2,661 devices.

Proportionately in the last quarter, the smallest increase in charging devices installations was in the fast charging devices categories, with an increase of 5% or 1,083 charging devices. Fast charging devices are still the most common category to be publicly installed.

Location of charging devices

Chart 4: Public charging devices by destination of charging device 1 April 2023 (table EVCD_03)

Chart 4 shows the most common location category for charging devices is Destination with 19,044 charging devices or 47% of all publicly available charging devices. “On street” charging devices account for 34% of charging devices or 13,571. Further information can be found in Annex B.

Charging Device location categories are defined based on both the physical and, or type of facility they are located in and who can access this but also the type of charging service they are designed to deliver.

On Street - charging devices located on residential streets only.

En-route - charging devices located for charging to continue a journey. Located in motorway service areas, service stations, electric forecourts and ferry terminals. Additionally Rapid or Ultra-Rapid devices in hotels, restaurants and attractions.

Destination - charging devices located at the end of an Electric Vehicle journey or where a driver may typically stop for an extended period of time. Consists of both Rapid or Ultra-Rapid and Fast or Slow devices located in retail car parks, car parks, leisure, education areas and transport (except ferries); in addition Fast or Slow devices located at hotels and restaurants.

Other - charging devices which are semi-public with some level of access restrictions such as workplace car parks and dealership forecourts.

Regional distribution of charging devices

There is an uneven geographical distribution of charging devices within the UK. 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.

Chart 5: Public charging devices per 100,000 of population by UK country and region: 1 April 2023 (table ECVD_01a)

Chart 6: Public rapid charging or above devices per 100,000 of population by UK country and region: 1 April 2023 (table ECVD_01b)

Chart 5 and Map 1 show London and Scotland had the highest level of charging provision per 100,000 of population, with 145 and 72 devices per 100,000 respectively. In comparison, the average provision in the UK was 60 per 100,000.

Northern Ireland had the lowest level of charging device provision in the UK, with 20 devices per 100,000, followed by the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber with 33 and 37 devices per 100,000 respectively.

Chart 6 and Map 2 indicate that Scotland had the highest rate of rapid device provision of 18.4 rapid or quicker devices per 100,000, whilst the average provision in the UK was 11.4 per 100,000. Rapid or quicker device provision was lowest for Northern Ireland with 1.9 rapid or quicker devices per 100,000. North West and East of England were the second and third lowest regions with 9 and 9.7 rapid or quicker devices per 100,000 respectively.

An interactive map of this data is available.

Maps 1 and 2: Total and rapid or above public charging devices per 100,000 of population by UK region 1 April 2023

Change in public charging devices

Maps 3 and 4: Change in public charging devices, per region between January to March 2023; percentage and (number of devices)

As Map 3 shows, all regions across the UK saw an increase in total charging devices between January to March 2023. Wales had the greatest increase at 11.9%, whilst Yorkshire and the Humber had the smallest increase at 3.1%. London had the greatest increase in absolute number of devices at 1,259 devices, followed by South East at 384.

The number of available devices can fluctuate for a range of reasons. Increases likely reflect the installation of new devices, whilst owners and operators can choose to temporarily or permanently decommission or replace devices. Charging devices can also be unavailable due to faults, maintenance or other restrictions in the area where they are located, though data on the status of charging devices is not held by Department for Transport (DfT).

Map 4 shows that rapid charging or above devices have increased in every region in the UK. The smallest percentage increase in the number of rapid charging or above devices was Yorkshire and the Humber at 4.3%. Northern Ireland had the largest percentage increase in rapid charging or above devices at 42.3%, corresponding to an increase of 11 rapid charging or above devices.

Further detail on the change in charging device numbers between January and March 2023 displayed in Maps 3 and 4 can be found in Annex C.

Background notes and limitations of data

This is a quarterly statistical release on electric vehicle charging devices. We would welcome feedback from users of the statistics, particularly as we have added to the contents of this publication within the last year. This can be provided by emailling environment statistics.

A charging device is a unit capable of charging the batteries of plug-in electric vehicles. Devices are classified by their power output, and each device may offer one or more connecting points. The term ‘chargepoint’ is also sometimes used, including in previous statistical publications from the DfT. This may refer to either a single device or a number of connectors on a device which can be used simultaneously.

Charging devices have largely been funded by private sector investment, however a number of the devices have been Government funded via a number of grant schemes operated by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). OZEV also provides grant funding for private domestic charging and workplace charging devices, which are included in the quarterly electric vehicle charging device grant scheme statistics publication. Private domestic and workplace charging devices are not included within these statistics, as they are not necessarily available to the general public.

Charging device location data is sourced from the electric vehicle charging platform Zapmap and represents devices reported as operational at midnight, 1 April 2023. Zapmap report they cover 95% of publicly accessible devices. The total count of charging devices in the UK (when accounting for privately installed devices) will therefore be higher and we have no way of assessing whether data coverage is better in some geographical areas than others.

As we source the data from Zapmap, we request that any reference to this report is clearly attributed to Zapmap as the source of the data as well as this DfT report.

There are no other sources with such comprehensive coverage against which we could verify the Zapmap devices. As of 13 April 2023, the National Chargepoint Registry (NCR) covers 28,763 devices so cannot be used to verify the Zapmap counts. The NCR, whilst covering fewer devices, does contain more detailed information on each charging device including the exact location and number of connectors.

A device can have several connectors of varying types and speeds. Some devices can charge only one vehicle at once, whilst others can charge multiple simultaneously. The Zapmap data does not indicate how many cars can be charged by a single device, therefore the statistics count the device itself. There is often more than one device at a location. Charging capability in any given location (the number of cars able to be charged at the same time) will be higher than the number of devices.

There are varying definitions of rapid charging device. Common definitions used are 25kW or above, as used in this publication, and 50kW or above. In practice, these 2 definitions are not too different, with less than 100 charging devices between 25kW and 49kW in existence at last count.

Population figures by Local Authority are sourced from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Population Mid Year Estimates for 2021. The Local Authority administrative geographies are from April 2021, available from the ONS Geography Portal.

Data after July to September 2019 reflects charging devices which were available at the end of each quarter. Data previous to this uses charging devices which were available at July to September 2019, but were installed in previous quarters before this. Subsequently, these figures do not include any devices installed before July to September 2019 that were decommissioned or unavailable at the time.

This quarterly statistical series complements three earlier releases presenting statistics on observed usage and charging patterns for electric vehicle charging devices funded under various OZEV schemes:

• local authority rapids
• public sector fasts
• domestics

Experimental Statistics

These quarterly statistics are badged as Experimental Statistics. Users should be aware of the status and cautions of these series, which will vary for each statistic and will be explained within each publication. The statistics are new but still subject to testing in terms of their volatility and ability to meet customer needs. They do not meet the rigorous quality standards of National Statistics, for example with respect to partial coverage. Further details on the limitations of Experimental Statistics can be found at the Office for National Statistics.

Twitter - to hear more about DfT statistical publications as they are released, please follow us on Twitter via DfTstats.

Annex A: Public charging device by 100,000 population table

Table 1 - Total and rapid or quicker public charging devices per 100,000 of population by UK region 1 April 2023 (Maps 1 and 2)

Region	Devices per 100,000 population	Rapids or quicker per 100,000 population
United Kingdom	60	11.4
North East	53	12.7
North West	33	9.0
Yorkshire and the Humber	37	10.6
East Midlands	41	11.7
West Midlands	53	12.9
East of England	39	9.7
London	145	10.3
South East	56	12.2
South West	48	11.8
Wales	53	11.3
Scotland	72	18.4
Northern Ireland	20	1.9

Annex B: Location of Charging Devices

Table 2 - Location of Public Charging Devices 1 April 2023; percentage and number of devices

Location	Number of Devices	Percentage of Total
On Street	13,571	34%
Destination	19,044	47%
En-Route	2,540	6%
Other	4,995	12%

Annex C: Regional changes table

Table 3 - Change in public charging devices, per region between January to March 2023; percentage and (number of devices)

Region	Total devices change	Rapid or quicker devices change
United Kingdom	8.4% (+3,095)	11.0% (+760)
North East	11.1% (139)	18.7% (53)
North West	6.6% (+152)	8.8% (+54)
Yorkshire and the Humber	3.1% (+61)	4.3% (+24)
East Midlands	4.7% (+90)	11.5% (+59)
West Midlands	11.8% (+332)	16.2% (+107)
East of England	4.8% (+114)	9.0% (+51)
London	10.9% (+1,259)	5.9% (+50)
South East	8.0% (+384)	15.7% (+154)
South West	8.2% (+206)	11.6% (+70)
Wales	11.9% (+174)	23.7% (+67)
Scotland	4.3% (+161)	6.3% (+60)
Northern Ireland	6.3% (23)	42.3% (11)

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