There are many competing viewpoints around the whole EV replacing ICE situation and some of it is actually pretty positive news. According to Zapmap, statistics show encouraging growth in the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. At the end of May 2023, there were 43,626 EV charging points across the UK, across 25,413 charging locations, providing more than 70,000 charging connectors; representing a 38% increase in the total number of charging devices since May 2022.
Zapmap also reported 1,628 new EV charging devices were added to its database in the last month, which includes 332 ultra-rapid charge points, a 99% increase since May 2022. The definition of ultra-rapid, popularly, seems to be a charger capable of 150 kWh or faster.
Melanie Shufflebotham, COO and Co-founder of Zapmap, recently discussed the EV charging infrastructure during an interview with Times Radio Drive. “In March and April, we’ve had the most ever charge points added to the charge point network, and most importantly, the ultra-rapid, have gone up by 99% since this time last year. Whilst the charging network is not perfect, it’s certainly growing at a really good pace across the UK.
“I think the key thing to think about is that not all charging is created equal. There’s an equation between petrol stations and cars, it’s very different for EV charging, the vast majority of EV drivers charge at home.
So, while there are 43,000 public chargers, there are over half a million charge points which are installed on people’s driveways – people are happily charging up at home and very rarely need to use the public network.
For those people, the critical issue is, when they are on a longer journey, can they find a high-powered charge point where they can charge quickly and efficiently – those charge points are going in at a really rapid rate.”
For those living and visiting Wales, the Welsh Government recently announced a £15m investment to increase EV charging provision. This follows £26m already invested in charging infrastructure across Wales since 2021. In total, Wales currently has more than 1,800 charging devices mapped on Zapmap, edging the Welsh Government closer to its objective of having EV charging every 20 miles along the strategic trunk network throughout Wales by 2025.
All of this is excellent progress and huge steps in the right direction. Whilst there is still a way to go for our EV charging infrastructure to be fully complete and meet the Government’s ambitious targets, the development is positive. Of course, this is just one part of the story but overall we are seeing lots of moves in the right direction when it comes to the question of charging and infrastructure capabilities.
For more information on locating charge points on your journey or local to you, download the Zapmap app.