The East Midlands, West Midlands, South-West England and Wales installed more rapid or ultra-rapid EV chargers than London according to ZapMap.
While London and the South-East have more EV chargers of all speeds, the rest of the country has faster chargers.
ZapMap chief operating officer Melanie Shufflebotham said it’s “encouraging” that EV chargers are being installed the country but “particularly erstwhile poorly served areas of Wales, Northern Ireland and the northeast.”
“In 2023 the pace of installation of the critical ultra-rapid charging network has really picked up, with 42% more chargers versus the beginning of the year,” she added.
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Rapid chargers are capable of delivering between 25 and 100 kilowatts of power to electric cars – with a 50kW connection able to give about an 80% charge to the average car in less than an hour.
Ultra-rapid connections of more than 100kW (and up to 350kW for the newest cars) can achieve even faster times, and therefore charge more vehicles during the same time period at motorway service stations, albeit at a higher cost for customers.
Range anxiety?
Some experts argue that some consumers might not be attracted to EVs due to “range anxiety”, referring to fear that an EV battery aren’t suitable for long journeys.
FairChange founder Quentin Willson told the Guardian range anxiety is “certainly not the force it was before” as most new EVs have between 200 and 250 miles of range.
However, Willson said there were “blockages in the system” preventing a faster rollout of chargers, including electricity grid connections, which are lagging far behind demand.
