We've published new statistics on public charge point installations in the first three months of 2024.
The new figures show that the overall rate of installation has increased by 35% compared with the average across 2023. Of the electric vehicle chargers being installed, a quarter are high-powered devices ideal for drivers undertaking longer electric journeys.
The data also illustrates a continuing trend to install high-powered hubs, which are popular with electric drivers especially to support longer journeys, with 55 new charging hubs installed across the country in the first quarter of the year.
As of the end of March, there are now 59,590 charging devices installed, according to the data from Zapmap. This figure represents a 10.5% increase in the total number of public chargers since the end of 2023, and a 47% increase since the end of March 2023.
More than 5,500 of this total number of charge points (5,725) were installed in the first quarter of 2024, at a rate of over 1,900 per month. This sees the rate of installation increase by 35% on the 2023 average of 1,400 per month.
Of the 5,725 public chargers installed in the quarter, 25% of them (1,436) are high-powered devices designed for en-route charging when drivers want to recharge as quickly as possible. 832 of these are the speediest chargers available: 150kW+ ultra-rapid devices.
Zapmap’s statistics also show that the top five networks which provide high-power charging infrastructure in the UK have installed 75% of the rapid and ultra-rapid charge points since the end of 2023.
Between them, InstaVolt, Tesla, bp pulse, Osprey and GRIDSERVE installed 839 chargers in the first three months of the year. Of these, Osprey led the charge in the first quarter after installing more than 350 charge points.
Notable new entrants and challengers include Smart Charge from Sainsbury’s, whose network already comprises almost 190 chargers – over half of which were installed in 2023 – and Applegreen Electric. The latter operates around 160 ultra-rapid devices up and down the UK, primarily at Welcome Break motorway service areas.
New payment partner Applegreen Electric has sites at Welcome Break locations across the UK.
Other figures within the Zapmap data reveal continued growth in the number of high-powered charging hubs opening across the country. Useful for electric car drivers on longer journeys, these hubs are defined by Zapmap as locations with six or more rapid/ultra-rapid charging devices. The figures exclude Tesla locations that are not available for drivers of other car brands.
Since the end of the year, 55 new charging hubs have opened their doors to drivers, marking more than a 20% increase in the number of hubs available to drivers since the end of 2023. As of the end of March, 319 high-power charging hubs were available for electric car drivers to stop by and recharge – up from 264 at the end of December.
Furthermore, the Zapmap figures show that all areas across the country experienced a rise in the number of charging hubs in the first quarter of the year. Notably, Northern Ireland saw its first two hubs installed by IONITY at the Kennedy Centre, Belfast, and at Toomebridge by Lough Neagh.
IONITY opened its first high-powered charging hub in Northern Ireland at Toomebridge in February.
Also noteworthy, the South West, a key holiday destination, saw 11 new hubs open during January, February and March – an impressive increase of almost 58%. There are now 30 high-power charging hubs in the South West, having risen from 19 at the end of December.
Elsewhere, the East of England leads the way with 42 hubs as of the end of March, followed by Scotland with 39 and the North West with 38.
Zapmap’s figures also reveal that charge point provision to support drivers unable to charge at home continued to grow in the first quarter of the year. Almost 1,500 new on-street chargers (1,423) were installed since the end of December, bringing the total number to 21,475.
At present, the majority of these (16,405) are located in Greater London. However, the rest of the UK is seeing far higher growth in the number of on-street devices being installed.
While London saw an increase of just over 4% in the first three months of the year, the rest of the UK saw the number of on-street chargers increase from 4,325 at the end of December up to 5,070 at the end of March, an increase of more than 17%.
These latest on-street charge points are still typically being installed under the government’s ORCS scheme (On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme), while new funding has started to be allocated to local authorities through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure scheme.
Despite this, with lengthy procurement processes to pass through, it is unlikely that there will be a significant increase in local on-street charging provision this year.
Melanie Shufflebotham, Co-founder & COO at Zapmap, said:
“It’s fantastic to see that the strong pace of charger installations seen last year has already been exceeded in the first quarter of 2024. In particular, high-powered chargers and hubs are showing great momentum, with new hubs and chargers popping up everywhere from supermarkets to motorway services and retail outlets.
“Our aim at Zapmap is both to help drivers to find suitable, reliable chargers when they are out and about and also to give petrol and diesel drivers the confidence to make the switch.
“It is undoubtedly great news for electric car drivers that the sheer number and as well as the variety of charging options are improving every month.”
