Official Statistics

Electric vehicle public charging infrastructure statistics: January 2026

Updated 26 February 2026

Visit the Electric vehicle charging infrastructure statistics collection page to browse the latest available statistics for electric vehicle charging in the United Kingdom.

About this release

This release presents statistics on publicly available electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the United Kingdom.

Data is provided by individual charge point operators (CPOs) as set out in the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 guidance  and collated by Zapmap for use by the Department for Transport (DfT). The data presented in this release is correct as of 1 January 2026.

The next quarterly report is scheduled for release in May 2026.

Further information can be found in the about these statistics section.

Introduction of EV charger (EVSE) statistics

EVSE stands for electric vehicle supply equipment. This is an independent part of a charging device which controls the charge session, enabling one electric vehicle (EV) to charge at a time. EVSE are referred to as ‘EV chargers’ for user-friendliness throughout all DfT electric vehicle charging infrastructure statistics products. Full descriptions and a diagram for each of these terms are available in the frequently asked questions document.

As of 2026, the primary focus of this statistical series is now on publicly available EV chargers in the United Kingdom. Previous releases in this series measured only publicly available charging devices. This represents an improvement from previously measuring the number of devices which can be charged at, to now measuring the number of vehicles which can be charged.

Reporting on the number of EV chargers allows the DfT to provide a more representative estimate of the size of the United Kingdom’s public EV charging infrastructure and is consistent with wider international practice for quantifying public EV charging.

Statistics relating to charging devices, including the full historical series, continue to be published in table EVCI9001 for transparency and to enable users to compare metrics.

More information about the introduction of EV charger statistics can be found in the frequently asked questions document.

Chart 1: Number of public EV chargers from January 2023 and public charging devices from 2019: United Kingdom

Chart 1 is a line chart presenting the number of EV chargers in each quarter since January 2025, and annual industry estimates since January 2023, compared to the number of charging devices in each quarter since October 2019.

The chart shows that as of 1 January 2026:

• there were 116,052 EV chargers and 87,796 charging devices, an average of 1.32 EV chargers for every charging device

• the growth rate of EV chargers over time has been comparable to the growth rate of charging devices

EV charger data points prior to 2025 are industry estimates provided by Zapmap to allow users to see a longer-term comparison of metrics to aid transparency and facilitate this change in reporting. These estimates fall outside the scope of official statistics and do not appear in tables published on the EVCI data tables page.

Chart 2: Annual EV chargers added to the public network: United Kingdom, 2023 to 2025

Chart 2 is a bar chart presenting the number of EV chargers that were added to the public network in each year since 2023. This chart includes industry estimates for 2023 and 2024, provided by Zapmap. These estimates fall outside the scope of official statistics and do not appear in tables published on the EVCI data tables page.

The chart shows that, as of 1 January 2026:

• 13,281 EV chargers were added to the public network in the past year

• 24,557 were added to the public network in 2024

• 20,662 were added to the public network in 2023

Data on the estimated number of EV chargers for 2023 and 2024 shown in chart 1 and chart 2, along with the directly related commentary for chart 2, were revised within a few hours of their initial publication at 09:30 on 26 February. This followed a Department for Transport production error in which an outdated set of industry estimates was used in error. The data have now been corrected.

The scale of the revision to the number of EV chargers added to the network each year in 2023, 2024 and 2025 respectively, was minus 5 percent, plus 6 percent and minus 1 percent.

All other data in this publication and the published tables are unaffected.

EV chargers by power rating

EV chargers are organised into power bands that reflect their typical use‑cases and the different charging needs often required at different public locations.

EV chargers in higher power bands can charge vehicles more quickly.

Further information about power bands can be found in the frequently asked questions document.

In the January 2026 edition of this series, DfT introduced labels for each EV charger power band, to facilitate user understanding and ease of reference.

The established kilowatt (kW) power bands have not changed from previous DfT statistical releases.

The power bands and their newly associated labels as used in these statistics are:

• 3kW to less than 8kW: standard

• 8kW to less than 50kW: standard plus

• 50kW to less than 150kW: rapid

• 150kW and above: ultra-rapid

Different power bands and descriptive labels may be used across the EV charging industry.

Chart 3: Public EV chargers by power band: United Kingdom, 1 January 2026 (EVCI0201)

Chart 3 is a doughnut chart presenting the percentage of public EV chargers in each power banding.

It shows that as of 1 January 2026:

• 50% of EV chargers were rated standard (3kW to less than 8kW)

• 27% were rated standard plus (8kW to less than 50kW)

• 12% were rated rapid (50kW to less than 150kW)

• 10% were rated ultra-rapid (150kW and above)

The proportion of EV chargers in each power band are slightly different to the proportions for charging devices. This is because both chargers and devices are categorised by their most powerful connector. Since the EV charger metric is closer to connector level, these measurements are now more precise. Data for both metrics can be found on the EVCI data tables page.

Geographical distribution of EV chargers

Chart 4: Total and 50kW and above (rapid or above) public EV chargers per 100,000 of the resident population, by country and region: United Kingdom, 1 January 2026 (EVCI0101)

Chart 4 is a nested bar chart comparing EV chargers per 100,000 of the resident population across United Kingdom countries and regions for both total and rapid or above EV chargers.

It shows that as of 1 January 2026:

• regional variation is lower for rapid and above chargers than for total chargers
• London has many more public chargers per capita than the rest of the United Kingdom, yet the second‑lowest per capita rated rapid or above, as much of its public charging infrastructure comprises standard on‑street chargers

The regional distribution of EV chargers is similar to that of charging devices. Data for both metrics can be found on the EVCI data tables page.

The figures used in chart 4 can be found in Annex A.

Chart 5: Public EV chargers by rural urban classification: England and Wales, 1 January 2026 (EVCI0104)

Chart 5 is a doughnut chart comparing the percentage of EV chargers in rural and urban areas of England and Wales according to the ONS 2021 rural urban classification.

It shows that as of 1 January 2026:

• 17.1% of EV chargers were in rural areas, similar to the proportion of the population of England and Wales that live in rural areas (17.5%)

• 82.9% of EV chargers were in urban areas, similar to the proportion of the population of England and Wales that live in urban areas (82.5%)

The rural and urban distribution of EV chargers is similar to that of charging devices. Data for both metrics can be found on the EVCI data tables page.

This release series now reports on rural and urban charging infrastructure using the new Rural Urban Classification (2021). Previous editions used the 2011 classification. This presented an opportunity to include Wales in the rural and urban breakdowns in this series. Rural and urban data for England and Wales individually can be found in table EVCI0104. Comparable rural and urban data for Scotland and Northern Ireland is not available.

EV chargers available for different journey types

EV chargers are grouped into location classifications that reflect the service they provide for various charging needs and journey types.

‘Destination’ EV chargers are located at the end of a journey or where a driver may stop for an extended period. This includes chargers in car parks and standard or standard plus chargers at hospitality premises.

‘On street’ EV chargers are typically located on residential streets and provide local public charging infrastructure.

‘En-route’ EV chargers provide charging to continue journeys. This includes chargers at motorway service areas and rapid or above chargers at hospitality premises.

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

Chart 6: Public EV chargers by location classification: United Kingdom, 1 January 2026 (EVCI0301)

Chart 6 is a doughnut chart presenting the percentage of public EV chargers in each location classification.

It shows that as of 1 January 2026:

• 54% were classed as destination EV chargers

• 32% were classed as on-street EV chargers

• 9% were classed as en-route EV chargers

• 4% were classed as other EV chargers

The proportion of EV chargers in some location classes are slightly different to the proportions for charging devices. This is because the EV charger metric allows more precise measurements of charging capability at these location classifications. Data for both metrics can be found on the EVCI data tables page.

Parliamentary constituencies

Statistics on EV chargers for each parliamentary constituency can be found on the EVCI data tables page.

About these statistics

These statistics are released under the official statistics in development label. Official statistics in development are official statistics that are temporarily undergoing a development and are being tested with users, in line with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

Please note that percentages may not always sum to 100 due to rounding.

Further information about these statistics can be found on the electric vehicle charging infrastructure statistics information page.

Annex

Annex A: Total and 50kW and above (rapid or above) public EV chargers per 100,000 of the resident population, by country and region: United Kingdom, 1 January 2026 (EVCI0101)

Region	EV chargers per 100,000 population	50kW and above (rapid or above) EV chargers per 100,000 population
United Kingdom	167.5	38.1
North East	138.9	32.3
North West	104.9	36.9
Yorkshire and the Humber	108.5	33.2
East Midlands	120.9	43.3
West Midlands	159.8	41.4
East of England	140.9	44.0
London	338.1	25.6
South East	149.4	36.4
South West	148.0	45.7
Wales	177.1	39.9
Scotland	217.5	53.8
Northern Ireland	57.5	16.7