Boost for electric vehicle drivers as 50,000 public chargepoints installed across the UK

The UK has taken another step on the road to zero emission driving as new statistics out today (13 December 2023) show over 50,000 public chargepoints have been installed across the country, making it easier and quicker for electric vehicle owners to recharge their cars. 

Charging options for drivers continue to grow at pace with today’s stats, produced using data supplied to the department by Zapmap, also showing there are 44% more public chargepoints (52,602) than this time last year.

Today’s figures come as the UK’s world-leading path to reaching zero emission vehicles by 2035 is set to come into effect next year. The zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate requires 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Great Britain to be zero emission by 2030.

The mandate ensures the country will have the most ambitious regulatory framework for the switch to electric vehicles (EVs) in the world and the 2035 end-of-sale date puts the UK in line with other major global economies, including France, Germany, Sweden and Canada.

This mandate is providing the certainty needed to safeguard skilled British jobs in the car industry and is allowing the private sector to scale up investment in charging infrastructure, helping more drivers make the switch and ensuring the country remains on track to reaching 300,000 public chargepoints by 2030.

Technology and Decarbonisation Minister, Anthony Browne, said:

Passing 50,000 public chargepoints is a key milestone in our journey to zero emission driving and shows the incredible progress we’ve made to provide the infrastructure for drivers to go electric.  

With government and private sector investment, we are backing drivers by expanding our charging network – creating jobs and putting us well on the way to our target of 300,000 public chargepoints by 2030.
The UK continues to be a leader in the transition to net zero, with EVs making up 16% of the car market – one of the highest shares in Europe and higher than the EU average of 13%.

Our approach has already attracted record investment in gigafactories and EV manufacturing, including:

Nissan’s recent investment of over £3 billion to develop 2 new electric vehicles at their Sunderland plant
Tata’s investment of over £4 billion in a new 40 GWh gigafactory
BMW’s investment of £600 million to build next-generation MINI EVs in Oxford
Ford’s investment of £380 million in Halewood to make Electric Drive Units
Stellantis’ £100 million investment in Ellesmere Port for EV van production
As part of our Plan for drivers, we intend to consult on ways to make installations cheaper and quicker for chargepoint operators, review the grid connections process for chargepoints, and also consult on the expansion of permitted development rights to make installations easier. Additionally, the government’s Connections action plan will overhaul the way projects access the electricity grid and reduce delay time, positively impacting all types of connection customers including EV chargepoint operators.

The government also continues to support the rollout of charging infrastructure in local areas. Applications for the first round of the £381 million Local EV infrastructure fund are currently being assessed. This funding will deliver tens of thousands more chargepoints and transform the availability of charging for drivers without off-street parking.

In addition, the On-street residential chargepoint scheme (ORCS) is open to all UK local authorities. Grants are also available to help businesses make the transition through the government’s Workplace charging scheme (WCS), as well as people in flats and rented accommodation through the Electric vehicle chargepoint grant.

Additionally, new laws recently came into force to provide EV drivers with easier and more reliable public charging, mandating that prices across chargepoints are transparent, easy to compare and that a large proportion of new public chargepoints have contactless payment options.

The regulations also require that providers open up their data, so drivers can easily find an available chargepoint that meets their needs. This will make it easier for drivers to locate chargepoints, check their charging speeds and determine whether they are working and available for use.