Nearly 1 million EV chargers, new one every 25 minutes
The UK now has nearly one million electric car chargers, a figure that the industry claims is proof that they are keeping up with an increasing number of electric vehicles on the road. At the end of June, there were 930,000 according to Charge UK with the majority being in homes and businesses.
Public chargers meanwhile numbered only about 65,000, including ‘ultra-rapids’ at motorway services to slow chargers on lamp posts. ChargeUK’s analysis shows that a new public charger was installed every 25 minutes in the spring quarter as companies scrambled to keep up with the demand for electric vehicles. 5,100 wer installed in the second quarter of 2024, data company Zapmap estimates.
The switch from polluting internal combustion engines to electric vehicles is seen as a crucial step in cutting carbon emissions and reducing the impact of climate change. However, the perception of a slow rollout of charging points has been a significant barrier that has kept some people from making the jump to battery powered cars.
However, this fear could be misplaced according to Vicky Read, the chief executive of ChargeUK.
“In little more than a decade, the UK’s charging sector has grown to become a major player in the green economy,” she said, “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.”
There are now over a million electric vehicles on the roads in the UK including cars and commercial vehicles. 167,000 new cars were sold in the first half of this year according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, a 9% increase over the previous year with the share of electric vehicles increasing slightly to 16.6%. High upfront prices and a rise in interest rates have been other factors that has put off some buyers.
