Vast majority of EV owners rely on public charging, highlighting need for robust network

The vast majority of electric vehicle owners still rely on the public charging network, with many topping up their batteries away from home at least once a week.

Experts suggest that this highlights the need for a robust charging network as the number of people relying on these chargers working increases.

Figures from Zap Map, the UK’s leading map of public charging points, reveal that 93 per cent of EV owners use the public charging network, with 40 per cent using them every week.

Its annual EV Charging Survey, which received more than 3,000 responses, found that usage of the fastest public chargers was increasing thanks to more being installed in 2021, as well as more vehicles being able to accept these faster charging speeds.

Rapid chargers (25-99kW) are still the most-used chargers on the public network, but the use of 100kW-plus chargers has increased to 27 per cent of EV drivers, up from 16 per cent the previous year.

Interestingly, these faster chargers also drove increased use at particular locations. Zap Map found that companies offering fast charging hubs – where there are typically four to 10 connectors to increase the chances of one being available – saw large gains in customer use.

For example, Instavolt leapt to 42 per cent of EV drivers using them, up from 26 per cent, while Gridserve’ Electric Highway, which has taken over and upgraded the motorway network charging infrastructure over the past year, was used by 29 per cent of drivers.

However, the most popular chargers were placed at high traffic destinations, such as supermarkets and motorway service stations, being used by 52 and 50 per cent of EV drivers respectively.

Melanie Shufflebotham, Zap-Map co-founder & COO, said: “As the number of EV drivers on the road approaches half a million, a robust charging infrastructure is essential, and the public charging network is growing and developing to meet these changing needs.

“However, amongst other considerations, the demand for high-powered chargers revealed in this report indicates that ultra-rapid chargers and charging hubs continue to be a crucial area of investment – for the simple fact that they make long journeys easier.”

The survey also found that just one per cent of EV owners would now switch back to petrol or diesel.