‘Vast majority’ of EV drivers continue to use public charging networks

Zapmap has released the results from their annual Electric Vehicle Charging Survey, which this year drew responses from around 4,300 EV drivers (drivers of plug-in hybrid vehicles were excluded from the poll).

Now in its sixth year, the survey is probably the most established and comprehensive poll of EV drivers in the UK.

One of the most interesting takes from this year’s results is that although 80% of EV drivers have a home charger, the vast majority of them continue to use public charging networks across the country.

Of the national charge point operators GRIDSERVE, Pod Point and InstaVolt are used by the most respondents – with 36%, 34% and 34%, respectively, using them in the last six months.

Jade Edwards, Head of Insights at Zapmap, said: ‘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.’

Also revealed is the fact that motorway services and EV charging hubs have overtaken supermarket car parks as the most popular charging locations in the UK, with 55% of respondents saying they regularly stop at motorway services to charge, while 47% do so at EV charging hubs – these are up from 48% and 34% respectively last year.

This clearly reflects the increasing number of charging hubs (defined here as groups of six or more rapid or ultra-rapid devices) that are opening across the country. Zapmap data shows that the number of open-access charging hubs has grown from 99 in November last year to 239 a year later.

A year ago, 50% of drivers used supermarket car parks to charge their vehicles, that figure has shrunk to 36%, in no small part because a year ago many supermarkets removed their free to use chargers.

Jade Edwards again: ‘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.

‘As the UK’s leading source of EV charging data and insights, this latest annual survey from Zapmap provides unrivalled data and expert analysis on the shape and usage of EV charging infrastructure, and the attitudes and behaviours of EV drivers.’