Public EV Charging: Top 10 areas for public charging installations in April - July
The UK added another 1,721 public EV chargers nationally in Q2 of 2022. Public EV chargers are the charge points that are found in lampposts and motorway service stations, which are open to the public (as opposed to those on people’s driveways). While the majority of EV charging happens at home, public chargers are needed by households that do not have a driveway or for drivers who plan on taking a longer trip.
As of 1st July, the Department for Transport reports that the UK has 32,011 public chargers. But, as local councils start to take an increasingly active role in installing new charge points, some areas are starting to see an exponential increase in the size of their local charging network.
East Hertfordshire tops the charts of local authority districts for charge point installations in April-June this year, with a 317% increase in public EV charging availability in just three months. There were eleven local authority districts that saw increases of more than 50% in the number of charge points in the three months to July. The top 30 local authority districts for charge point installations are listed below, showing the percentage increase in charging between April and July.
Local Authorities have a key role to play in installing new charge points. Much of the network growth evident in this latest data can be attributed to work done by various local authorities across the UK. The new charge points in Welwyn Hatfield are being rolled out in conjunction with the council. Similarly, the new charge points in Exeter have been installed as part of work being carried out by a consortium that includes Devon County Council. In its charging infrastructure strategy, the government announced £500 million of support for local authorities to find innovative ways to increase access to public charging infrastructure.
But many local authorities lack the tools they need to obtain funding or to understand how they need to start preparing for the transition to electric vehicles. That’s why we’re developing a toolkit for local authorities. If you want to find out more or get involved in helping us develop this resource, get in touch: local@newautomotive.org.