UK nears 1 million electric car chargers

London (Parliament Politics Magazine)– The UK now has nearly 1 million electric car chargers, with installations keeping pace with growing electric vehicle sales, ChargeUK reports.

How Many Electric Car Chargers Are in the UK?

According to data, there are now almost 1 million electric car chargers in the UK, a figure that is noticed as evidence that installations are keeping up with battery vehicle sales. There were 930,000 UK chargers at the end of June, according to ChargeUK, a lobbying body, but the bulk of these have been established in homes and business premises, with only approximately 65,000 public chargers available.

What Percentage of UK Chargers Are Public?

Public chargers vary from ultra-rapids at motorway services to delay chargers on lamp-posts.

The ChargeUK analysis revealed that a new public charger was established every 25 minutes in the spring quarter as businesses raced to keep up with the market. Companies established 5,100 public chargers during the second quarter of 2024, according to the data company Zapmap.

The transition from polluting petrol and diesel vehicles to electric technology is noticed as crucial for the world to slash carbon emissions and limit global heating. However, the perception of a slow rollout of charge stations has been a critical factor holding back some drivers from switching to electric cars.

Vicky Read, the chief executive of ChargeUK, stated that the analysis suggested some of those concerns may be misplaced. She stated: “In little more than a decade, the UK’s charging sector has grown to become a major player in the green economy, providing the infrastructure that more than a million EV drivers rely on today and scaling fast to deliver the charging needed through to 2030 and beyond.”

How Is the UK Meeting Its EV Charger Targets?

There are 1.1m electric vehicles on UK highways, including 167,000 cars marketed in the first half of this year, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders lobby group. That is a 9% growth compared with the previous year, although the percentage of electric sales only rose marginally to 16.6%, as relatively higher upfront costs and rising interest rates deterred some buyers.

ChargeUK’s analysis, which was carried out by the think tank New AutoMotive, indicated that the private sector was convinced it could meet a target set by the previous Conservative administration of 300,000 public charge points by 2030.

What Are Labour’s Plans for Expanding UK EV Chargers?

Labour pledged in its general election manifesto to “accelerate the rollout of charge points”, although it has not described how it will do this or whether it will adhere to the 300,000 target.

However, the charge point industry is worried that the pace could slow if the government does not make an effort to speed up connections to the electricity grid and make it more comfortable to receive permits and planning support for public chargers.

“While the outlook is positive, there is still work to be done,” Read said. “Delivering what the UK needs by 2030 means continuing to grow at pace, ensuring that deployment ramps up in locations that have been hampered by delays, and ensuring the UK has a thriving EV market so that investment in infrastructure continues at scale.”

Shell Recharge, possessed by the FTSE 100 oil company, is the authority in providing the most public charging points in the UK, with just under 9,000 public charging stations. Pod Point and Connected Kerb are the next biggest companies in a competitive market, with nearly 5,000 apiece.