London dominates EV infrastructure, but has just 9% of plug-in cars

Research conducted by GoShorty has revealed the most popular car brands in England by area, and which regions have the most electric and hybrid cars, reinforcing the fact  charging infrastructure is not rolling out equally, despite significant national demand.

While some of the results are unlikely to surprise many – for example, the fact there are more Ford vehicles licensed in the country than any other manufacturer, followed by Vauxhall then Volkswagen – elsewhere the study has thrown up some eyebrow raising figures. 

This includes just 9% of UK-registered EVs and hybrids being licensed to addresses in London, a figure rising to 21% – or 66,994 vehicles – for the wider South East region. Although this is significantly more than any other area, the spread of infrastructure, which is heavily skewed towards boroughs in the capital itself, reflects a deep imbalance in terms of access to charge points. 

North West England, for example, boasts 13% of all plug-in vehicles in the country, the third highest count of any region, but is home to the least number of charge points, as Air Quality News revealed in its investigation ‘More support needed’: Why the UK’s EV charger rollout is stalling. 

Image: (C) GoShorty

London and the South East dominate in terms of EV infrastructure – understandable considering their combined population of around 20m is just under one-third of the UK overall, but the scale of inequality in terms of charge points is still not relative. Greater Manchester, home to around 3m people and the largest regional economy outside London has just 360 EV charge points. Comparing on a wider scale, as of October last year, the North West had 27 charge points per 100,000 people with a population of 7.3m, whereas London had 116 per 100,000 and a population of just over 9m. 

You can find the full GoShorty study here.

Image: Conscious Design