The Department for Transport has released a document detailing the number of public charging locations, with London leading overall, but Scotland being the leader in number of public rapid chargers.
The data, which was sourced from charge point platform Zap Map, shows a steady growth in the number of public charge points – both fast and rapid chargers. In the first three months of 2020, 1,436 were added in total – an increase of 9% – with 283 of those rapid chargers – an increase of 10% on the previous quarter.
London has the largest number of public chargers per 100,000 residents, at 57, which is quite a lead over the second-best performer, Scotland, at 38. Both are well ahead over the country average of 27.
When it comes to rapid chargers, London (4.8) is only slightly ahead of the country average (4.8), with Scotland at 8.9. The report notes that this uneven geographical distribution is reflected in the demand or Government funding, which only some local authorities have requested.
It also notes that Charging devices have largely been funded by private sector investment. The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) has funded some and in the March budget, it was announced that the Government would invest £500 million over the next five years to support the roll-out of a fast charging network, with the aim that drivers will never be further than 30 miles from a rapid charging station.
The DfT has also produced an interactive map of the data at maps.dft.gov.uk/ev-charging-map. The full report is available here.