The UK enters a “decisive” phase: can the network ease charging anxiety enough?

The United Kingdom (UK) is going through decisive phase in the development of its public charging network, testing its real capacity to meet market expectations and encourage the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).

On 24 July, the Minister for the Future of Roads, Lilian Greenwood, confirmed a year-on-year growth of 27% in the infrastructure, with 17,370 new points added since July 2024.

As of 1 July 2025, the country has a total of 82,002 active public chargers.

“This growth marks a milestone in the adoption of EVs. With new installations every 30 minutes, we are laying the foundations for widespread EV use,” says Dunstan Power, Director of ByteSnap Design and its division Versinetic, to Mobility Portal Europe.

According to Power, this progress improves accessibility and convenience for drivers, thereby encouraging the shift towards zero-emission models.

However, he warns that the focus must not be solely on quantity, but also on service quality.

He stresses that the network must evolve to offer greater reliability, faster charging speeds, and a user experience on par with traditional refuelling.

“Success will depend on continued cooperation between government policy and private investment, so that infrastructure growth translates into genuine consumer confidence and leads to an acceleration in EV adoption,” the expert notes.

From his perspective, “the coming months will be decisive.”

On one hand, concrete details are expected regarding the new subsidy scheme. On the other, the market will observe whether this expansion is sufficient to ease charging anxiety.

This outlook coincides with the rollout of new financial support measures by the British Government.

Drivers will be able to access discounts of up to 3,750 pounds on the purchase of new electric vehicles, alongside an additional 25 million pounds fund aimed at boosting home charging, potentially saving users up to 1,500 pounds annually.

The incentive scheme is already available to businesses, while individual consumers will benefit once manufacturers formally register their zero-emission models.

Funding will be available until the 2028–2029 financial year.

Charger distribution remains uneven

The geographical distribution of public chargers across the UK continues to be uneven.

London has 275 devices per 100,000 residents, far above the national average of 121 per 100,000.

At the other end of the scale, Northern Ireland has the lowest coverage in the country, with just 36 chargers per 100,000 people, followed by the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber, both with 75 devices..

It is worth mentioning that while some local authorities have accessed government funding to install chargers, others have not applied at all.

This is partly due to the fact that most charging points have been installed by market players, such as private charging networks and businesses — including hotels — who independently decide where to locate them.

Regarding the availability of 50 kilowatts (kW) or higher charging devices across the regions and nations of the UK, the natioanl average is 24.7 chargers per 100,000 people.

Scotland reported the highest rate, with 37.5 devices per 100,000 inhabitants. Meanwhile, Northern Ireland recorded the lowest provision, with just 9.8 chargers.

An interesting case is London, which, despite having the highest overall density of charge points, ranked as the second-lowest region in terms of 50 kW or above devices, with 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants.

This is largely due to the fact that much of London’s infrastructure consists of lower-power devices between 3 kW and 8 kW, typically installed on residential streets.

READ MORE