Official Statistics

Electric vehicle charging device statistics: July 2021

Published 3 August 2021

We are providing this compact HTML format for our quarterly publication and we would like to hear your comments. If you have any feedback on our use of this format, please email environment statistics.

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. Data is provided by the electric vehicle and charging point platform Zap-Map.

The coronavirus pandemic is likely to have had a small impact on figures where data coincides with various restrictions.

The next quarterly report is scheduled for release in October 2021.

Key statistics

As of 1 July 2021:

• there were 24,374 public electric vehicle charging devices available in the UK
• of the total devices available, 4,551 were rapid chargers

In the second quarter of 2021 (April to June):

• available devices increased by 1,584, up 7% on the previous quarter (January to March 2021)
• rapid devices increased by 292, an increase of almost 7% on the previous quarter
• there was an increase in both total and rapid devices across all regions over the previous quarter

UK growth in public charging devices

Since 2015, the number of public devices has grown by 44% per year, on average. Rapid devices have increased at a much higher rate, with an average annual increase of 67%. The coronavirus pandemic may have had an effect on device growth, with the annual growth in total and rapid devices since April 2020 being noticeably lower than average, at 34% and 43% respectively.

Table EVCD_01a and Table EVCD_01b provide a breakdown of public charging devices in each local authority in the UK whilst Table EVCD_02 shows the change in the number of devices since 2015. These tables are published alongside this report.

Chart 1 Growth in UK public charging devices since 2015 Table EVCD_02

Chart 2 Growth in UK public rapid charging devices since 2015 Table EVCD_02

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 3 Public charging devices per 100,000 of population by UK country and region Table ECVD_01a

Chart 4 Public rapid charging devices per 100,000 of population by UK country and region Table ECVD_01b

Chart 3 and Map 1 show that London and Scotland had the highest level of charging provision per 100,000 of population, with 83 and 47 devices per 100,000 respectively. In comparison, the average provision in the UK was 36 per 100,000. Northern Ireland had the lowest level of charging device provision with 17 devices per 100,000, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber and the North West with 21 and 22 devices per 100,000.

Chart 4 and Map 2 indicates that Scotland had the highest rate of rapid device provision of 12.0 rapid devices per 100,000, whilst the average provision in the UK was 6.8 per 100,000. Rapid device provision was lowest for Northern Ireland and Wales, with 1.1 and 4.4 rapid devices per 100,000 respectively.

An interactive map of this data is available.

Maps 1 and 2 - Total and rapid public charging devices per 100,000 of population by UK region

An interactive map of this data is available.

Quarterly change in public charging devices

Maps 3 and 4 - Quarterly change in total and rapid public charging devices per region

As Maps 3 and 4 show, all regions in the UK saw an increase in total and rapid charging devices between April and July 2021. The number of available devices can fluctuate for a range of reasons. Increases likely reflect installation of new devices, whilst owners and operators can choose to temporarily or permanently decommission or replace devices, or they can be unavailable due to faults, maintenance or other restrictions in the area where they are located.

The West Midlands has seen the greatest total increase in devices, increasing 20.6% from last quarter, corresponding to an additional 272 devices. This regional growth is boosted by an increase in device numbers in Coventry, where the total number has increased by 160. In contrast, the smallest quarterly growth in devices has been in Northern Ireland, with numbers increasing by only 0.9%. This is followed by Yorkshire and the Humber, which has seen a total growth of 2.6%.

The number of available rapid devices has increased most noticeably in Wales, which has grown by 23.7%. However, Wales still has the lowest level of rapid device provision in Great Britain, with 4.4 devices per 100,000 population. The South East has seen the lowest quarterly growth in rapid devices at 1.1%, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber at 2.7%. Northern Ireland had the smallest increase in the number of rapid devices in the UK, with only 1 additional rapid device over the last quarter.

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. This can be provided via 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 Department for Transport. 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, however these types of devices are not included within these statistics as they are not necessarily available to the general public.

Data used in this release contains devices available prior to 1 July 2021. However, this data was extracted on the 20 July following work by the data supplier to resolve an issue which had resulted in a number of devices not being captured by the extract.

Charging device location data is sourced from the electric vehicle charging platform Zap-Map and represents devices reported as operational at midnight, 1 July 2021. Zap-Map reports that they cover 95% of publicly accessible devices. True counts are therefore likely to be higher and we have no way of assessing whether data coverage is better in some geographical areas than others.

There are no other sources with such comprehensive coverage against which we could verify the Zap-Map devices. As of 14 July 2021, the National Chargepoint Registry (NCR) covers 18,235 devices so cannot be used to verify the Zap-Map counts. The National Chargepoint Registry, whilst covering fewer devices, does contain more detailed information on each charging device including the exact location and number of connectors.

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

‘Rapid devices’ are those whose fastest connector is rated at 43kW and above.

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 Zap-Map 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.

Population figures by local authority are sourced from the Office for National Statistics Population Mid Year Estimates for 2020. 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 3 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.

Instructions for printing and saving

Depending on which browser you use and the type of device you use (such as an mobile or laptop) these instructions may vary.

You will find your print and save options in your browser’s menu. You may also have other options available on your device. Tablets and mobile device instructions will be specific to the make and model of the device.

How to search

Select Ctrl and F on a Windows laptop or Command and F on a Mac

This will open a search box in the top right-hand corner of the page. Type the word you are looking for in the search bar and press enter.

Your browser will highlight the word, usually in yellow, wherever it appears on the page. Press enter to move to the next place it appears.

Contact details

Public (telephone): 020 7944 3077

Media: 020 7944 3021

Public (email): Environment Statistics