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Motorway service stations have replaced supermarket car parks as the most popular public charging location for EVs, according to research by Zapmap.
The charger mapping service has published its annual EV charging survey, which questioned just under 4,300 EV drivers about their charging habits.
The company suggested that the drop in popularity of supermarket chargers - which are now also behind dedicated EV charging hubs in usage - was due to the removal of free charging schemes at many stores. 36% of respondents said they used supermarket charging, compared with 55% for motorway services and 47% for charging hubs.
The survey found that, although 80% of respondents had a home charger (down from 84% last year), the vast majority of EV drivers - 89% - continued to use public charging networks across the country.
Gridserve, Pod Point, and Instavolt were the networks used by the most respondents, at 36%, 34%, and 34% respectively, with Gridserve having overtaken Pod Point as the most-used network.
The next most popular network was BP Pulse, used by 28% of respondents, followed by Osprey (23%), Ionity (18%), Tesla Supercharger (18%), Shell Recharge (12%), Geniepoint (11%), and ChargePlace Scotland (10%).
The most commonly used speed of public charger among those surveyed was 25-99kW, used by 69%, ahead of up to 22kW (43%), and 100kW+ (38%).
Of the drivers surveyed, 51% said they only had an EV in their household, while 49% also had access to a petrol, diesel, or hybrid vehicle. However, of these dual-fuel households, over 90% said they preferred to use their EV rather than their alternative vehicle for local activities and commuting.
This is the sixth time the annual survey has been conducted, and it now solely focuss on EV drivers, with plug-in hybrid drivers specifically excluded.
The most common age range of respondents was 65-74 years old, and the most common region for them to be from was South East England, at 21%. 88% of the respondents were male.
Commenting on the survey, Zapmap head of insights Jade Edwards said: "With motorway services and EV charging hubs displacing supermarket car parks as the most popular charging locations in the UK, the survey gives you a good indication of just how quickly the country's charging infrastructure is developing.
"The continued expansion of the UK's public charging network affects organisations across the country in a whole range of different ways, and that's why this comprehensive survey can really help to shine a light on the key trends for companies of all shapes and sizes.
"What's more, with the number of pure-electric cars on UK roads now more than 950,000, the country's public charging infrastructure needs to be able to cope with a diverse range of needs.
"This survey is therefore vital in helping the industry to understand both how the EV landscape is changing - from en-route provision through to destination and on-street charging - as well as what needs to happen to best satisfy these needs."
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