With the upcoming ban on new petrol and diesel cars in 2030 and a “total ban” on combustion engines currently being discussed by the UK government, Vehicle Contracts have taken an in-depth look into the regions that are already keeping up with the demand for EVs and those with work to do.
We’ve looked at the regions with the best and worst public charging networks compared to the current number of registered electric vehicles as well as the areas that will have a lot of work to do in the future to prepare for 2030 based on their population.
London takes the top spot for EV charging facilities in the UK with just eight EVs per charger for its residents. However, with millions of people visiting the capital every day for work and tourism, the electric vehicle charging demand is actually much higher, especially as EVs currently avoid the London Congestion Charge, as well as the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) charge.
|
Regional EVs per charger |
||||
|
Rank |
Region |
Chargers |
EVs |
EVs per charger |
|
1 |
Greater London |
9,898 |
79,876 |
8 |
|
2 |
North East |
935 |
9,645 |
10.3 |
|
3 |
Wales |
1,096 |
12,887 |
11.7 |
|
4 |
Scotland |
2,951 |
38,634 |
13 |
|
5 |
East Midlands |
1,624 |
31,496 |
19.3 |
|
6 |
West Midlands |
2,006 |
43,393 |
21.6 |
|
7 |
Northern Ireland |
347 |
7,654 |
22 |
|
8 |
Yorkshire and the Humber |
1,579 |
46,149 |
29.2 |
|
9 |
South East |
3,795 |
135,430 |
35.6 |
|
10 |
East of England |
1,875 |
70,166 |
37.4 |
|
11 |
North West |
1,868 |
74,585 |
39.9 |
|
12 |
South West |
2,080 |
85,533 |
41.1 |
Outside London, the North East leads the way with 935 EV chargers divided between the 9,645 registered electric vehicles - that’s just 10.3 EVs for every charger. Meaning that those living in Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough have the best chance of finding a free charger for their EV.
Wales isn’t far behind with 11.76 chargers per EV giving plenty of choice to their 12,887 electric vehicle motorists, sharing a total of 1,096 chargers between them.
The South West is the region with the lowest chance of finding a vacant charging point. There are a whopping 41.12 EVs for every public charger in the region making it the worst place in the UK for charging. With the second-highest number of EVs registered in the UK, 85,533, you’ll likely have a wait to charge up your car when out and about.
The North West is just behind with 39.9 EVs per charger meaning their 74,585 EV owners may also have to wait to access a public charger. Residents of Manchester and Liverpool have the greatest number of chargers but with more people living in these locations, the demand is high.
In the third-bottom spot, is the East of England with 37.4 EVs for every charging point. The regions 70,166 have 1,875 chargers to share between them in the public network.
The UK’s most populated region, the South East, is unsurprisingly home to the highest number of EVs with 135,430 currently registered. As there are only 3,795 chargers for the entire region, it ended up in the bottom four for EV chargers per vehicle with 35.6.
Outside London, Scotland is the most prepared region for the switch to the all-electric future in 2030. 2,951 chargers are currently available meaning there are 53.9 available per 100,00 residents.
The country currently has 3,084,852 registered vehicles with 5,466,000 people meaning, as it stands, they’re the most ready location in the UK for the move to electric.
London again took the top spot with 109.9 chargers available per 100,000 residents. However, with commuters and tourism drawing in millions of people a day and an estimated 4.6 million daily car trips according to Transport for London, demand will likely be higher for chargers in the capital.
|
Regional EV chargers per 100,000 residents |
|||
|
Rank |
Region |
Chargers |
Chargers per 100,000 |
|
1 |
Greater London |
9,898 |
109.9 |
|
2 |
Scotland |
2,951 |
53.9 |
|
3 |
South East |
3,795 |
41.1 |
|
4 |
South West |
2,080 |
36.7 |
|
5 |
North East |
935 |
34.8 |
|
6 |
Wales |
1,096 |
34.5 |
|
7 |
West Midlands |
2,006 |
33.6 |
|
8 |
East Midlands |
1,624 |
33.3 |
|
9 |
East of England |
1,875 |
29.9 |
|
10 |
Yorkshire and the Humber |
1,579 |
28.5 |
|
11 |
North West |
1,868 |
25.3 |
|
12 |
Northern Ireland |
347 |
18.3 |
Despite being in the bottom four for chargers per EVs, the heavily populated South East was in the top three for chargers per population. 41.1 chargers are available per 100,000 people.
The South West, which was in the bottom spot for EVs per charger was in fourth when compared to the population. This suggests a large number of the residents have already made a switch to EVs. Per 100,000 people, there are currently 36.7 chargers available.
Northern Ireland took the bottom spot on the list for EV chargers compared to the population with 18.3 currently available per 100,000. The region is going to have improve their public charging network in preparation for the 2030 petrol and diesel ban.
The North West is again in the second from bottom spot with 25.3 chargers per 100,000 people. Showing poor results when compared to population and current levels of EVs, the region will have to improve its public charging capabilities to get ready for the ban on combustion engines, especially considering there are currently 4,263,056 registered vehicles.
Yorkshire and the Humber took the third bottom spot with 1,579 public chargers - 28.5 per 100,000 people, despite having 3,146,612 vehicles registered.
We used Zap-Map data from March 23rd 2022 to locate regional chargers and compared this against the latest Department for Transport data ULEVs along with ONS population estimates.
