Official Statistics

Electric vehicle charging device statistics: October 2023

Published 1 November 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 July to September 2023. Data is provided by the electric vehicle and charging point platform Zapmap and is correct as at midnight 1 October 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 January 2024.

This release showcases the first instalment of new speed category breakdowns, which we will be moving to in this release series going forward. The new categories are 3 kilowatts (kW) up to 8kW, 8kW to 49kW, 50kW to 149kW and 150kW and above. The Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) are working with industry on the naming conventions for these new categories; until these are determined we will refer to the new categories by their power rating in this release series.

Due to this change in speed categories, please interpret timeseries data with caution.

We welcome feedback on this quarterly publication. If you would like to provide feedback please email environment.stats@dft.gov.uk.

Headline figures

As of 1 October 2023, there were 49,220 public electric vehicle charging devices installed in the UK, within which:

Charging Speed:

• 8,908 had 50kW of power or above, this represents 18% of all charging devices
• 30,737 had a power rating of 3kW up to 8kW, this represents 62% of all charging devices

Location:

• 22,167 were designated as “destination” chargers, this represents 45% of all charging devices
• 18,942 were designated as “on street” chargers, this represents 38% of all charging devices

Compared to 1 July 2023:

• total installed devices increased by 5,200, an increase of 12%
• there was an increase in the number of public charging devices in the majority of regions in the UK, however both Northern Ireland and the North East of England saw a decrease in the total number of charging devices publicly available in the region

Charging device speed definitions, kilowatts (kW)

Total Devices represent publicly available charging devices at all speeds.

This release includes new speed category breakdowns for the first time, which we will be moving to in this release series going forward. The new categories are:

• 3 kilowatts (kW) up to 8kW
• 8kW to 49kW
• 50kW to 149kW
• 150kW and above

While we have undergone this transition, we have continued to include commentary focused on the former speed categories for this quarterly release, the definitions of which are below. Where these are presented alongside the new speed categories, care should be taken if making any comparison.

Former definitions:

• 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

Under former definitions, rapid charging or above devices are those whose fastest connector was rated at 25kW and above and included those charging devices classified as either rapid or ultra-rapid.

Due to the change in speed categories, please interpret timeseries data with caution.

UK growth in public charging devices

Since 1 October 2022 the number of installed public devices has increased by 14,583, a 42% increase. Under the former definition, the number of rapid charging or above devices increased by 42%, an additional 2,717 public devices installed. Based on the new speed categories, introduced in October 2023, there were 8,908 rated 50kW and above public charging devices, this accounted for 18% of all charging devices.

Table EVCD_01a and Table EVCD_01b provide a breakdown of public charging devices in each local authority in the UK whilst Table EVCD_03 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_03)

Chart 2: Installed UK public rapid charging or above devices, midnight, 1 of month, since 2015 (table EVCD_03)

Speed of charging devices

Chart 3: Public charging devices by charging speed 1 October 2023 (table EVCD_04)

Chart 3 shows the proportion of charging devices across speed categories, and compares this between the former and new speed categories. The largest speed category within the former categories was ‘fast’ charging devices (7kW to 22kW), which accounted for 53% of all charging devices, while the new speed categories, 3kW up to 8kW has the highest proportion of charging devices at 62% (30,737). This apparent expansion of devices seemingly being grouped into lower kW rates under the new definitions can be explained by the high number of “overnight” chargers powered at 7.1kW (the standard speed for an “overnight” charger). Previously, these were included in the ‘fast’ category in the former speed categories but now are in the new 3kW up to 8kW category in the new definitions.

Location of charging devices

Chart 4: Public charging devices by destination of charging device 1 October 2023 (table EVCD_05)

Chart 4 shows the most common location category for charging devices is Destination accounting for 22,167 charging devices or 45% of all publicly available charging devices. “On street” charging devices account for 38% of charging devices or 18,942. Further information can be found in Annex B.

Charging device location categories are defined based on both the physical/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 50kW and above charging 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 50kW and above and 49kW and below charging devices located in retail car parks, car parks, leisure, education areas and transport (except ferries), in addition 49kW and below charging 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

Across all speeds in total, 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 October 2023 (table ECVD_02a)

Chart 6: Public 50kW and above charging devices per 100,000 of population by UK country and region: 1 October 2023 (table ECVD_02b)

Chart 5 and Map 1 show London and Scotland had the highest level of charging provision per 100,000 of population, with 193 and 77 devices per 100,000 respectively. In comparison, the average provision in the UK was 73 per 100,000.

Northern Ireland had the lowest level of charging device provision in the UK, with 23 devices per 100,000, followed by the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber with 42 and 46 devices per 100,000 respectively.

When focusing on higher speeds of 50kW and above Chart 6 and Map 2 show that Scotland had the highest rate of device provision at 18.8 50kW and above charging devices per 100,000, whilst the average provision in the UK was 13.3 per 100,000. 50kW and above charging device provision was lowest for Northern Ireland with 2.9 50kW and above charging devices per 100,000. The North West was the second lowest regions with 10.8 50kW and above charging devices per 100,000 respectively.

An interactive map of this data is available.

Maps 1 and 2: Total and 50kW and above public charging devices per 100,000 of population by UK region 1 October 2023

Change in public charging devices

Map 3: Change in public charging devices, per region between July to September 2023; percentage and (number of devices)

As Map 3 shows, there was a mixed picture in the regional breakdown across the UK in total charging devices between July to September 2023. London had the greatest increase at 26.9%, whilst North East had a decrease of 7.3%. London had the greatest increase in absolute number of devices at 3,592 devices, followed by West Midlands at 347. The North East region has seen a decrease this quarter due to a net decrease of devices in Stockton-on-Tees related to a subset of charging devices being wound down by the chargepoint operator.

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.

Further detail on the change in charging device numbers between July and September 2023 displayed in Map 3 can be found in Annex C.

Rural Urban Classification (England only)

New from October 2023, this release includes the number of total charging devices (table ECVD_06a) and the number of 50kW and above charging devices (table ECVD_06b) by rural urban classification in table format. Public charging devices within an urban setting make up 85.7% in England.

Chart 7: Proportion of public charging devices available by rural urban classification in England, 1 October 2023

Chart 7 compares the number of charging devices across the urban rural classifications. The urban classification with the largest proportion of charging devices was Urban major conurbation (51.5% of all devices). The rural classification with the largest proportion of charging devices was Rural village and dispersed (7%). Further rural urban classification breakdowns including 50kW and above charging devices can be found in the tables published alongside this report.

Parliamentary Constituencies

From October 2023, we publish the number of total charging devices (table ECVD_07a) and the number of 50kW and above charging devices (table ECVD_07b) by parliamentary constituency in table format.

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 this release and within the last year. 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, 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 October 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 Department for Transport (DfT) report.

There are no other sources with such comprehensive coverage against which we could verify the Zapmap devices. As of 3 October 2023, the National Chargepoint Registry (NCR) covers 32,489 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.

Population figures by local authority are sourced from the Office for National Statistics Population Mid Year Estimates for 2021. The local authority administrative geographies are from April 2021 and the parliamentary constituency data are from December 2021, available from the ONS Geography Portal.

The Rural Urban Classification (RUC) of a charging device is determined using the device’s Lower Layer Super Output Area (LSOA), which is placed into one of the eight RUC2011 categories. The classification information can be found on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs website. The administrative geographies can also be found on 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.

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

Table 1 - Total and 50kW and above public charging devices per 100,000 of population by UK region 1 October 2023 (Maps 1 and 2)

Region	Devices per 100,000 population	50kW and above per 100,000 population
United Kingdom	73.4	13.3
North East	58.0	12.7
North West	42.5	10.8
Yorkshire and the Humber	46.0	13.6
East Midlands	45.8	14.9
West Midlands	64.7	16.2
East of England	52.0	11.9
London	192.8	11.2
South East	62.9	13.7
South West	53.8	14.2
Wales	66.4	13.5
Scotland	77.4	18.8
Northern Ireland	22.6	2.9

Annex B: Location of Charging Devices

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

Location	Number of Devices	Percentage of Total
On Street	18,942	38%
Destination	22,167	45%
En-Route	3,217	7%
Other	4,894	10%

Annex C: Regional changes table

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

Region	Total devices change
United Kingdom	11.8% (+5,200)
North East	-7.3% (-121)
North West	7.7% (+225)
Yorkshire and the Humber	2.4% (+59)
East Midlands	7.0% (+147)
West Midlands	9.9% (+347)
East of England	5.0% (+156)
London	26.9% (+3,592)
South East	3.7% (+211)
South West	5.3% (+156)
Wales	9.3% (+176)
Scotland	6.4% (+254)
Northern Ireland	-0.5% (+2)

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