Drivers’ least and most popular EV charging networks have been revealed in latest Zap-Map rankings, with InstaVolt placed top.

First place in the Zap-Map league table went to InstaVolt, which scored particularly highly with drivers for reliability and ease of use, followed by MFG EV Power

The result of Zap-Map’s annual EV charging survey and now in its fourth year, the league table has excluded Tesla’s Supercharger network – which has historically taken the lead spot – for the first time as it can only be accessed by Tesla drivers. Instead, first place has been filled by InstaVolt, which came second last year. The rapid charging network scored particularly highly with drivers for reliability and ease of use.

It was followed this year by two other rapid charging networks, MFG EV Power – one of four new entrants – and Osprey. Other new entrants include the Gridserve Electric Highway, which went live with its Braintree Electric Forecourt at the start of the year and also acquired the former Electric Highway motorway charging network from Ecotricity in June 2021. It was ranked fifth overall and came in first place for facilities.

Meanwhile on-street charging network Ubitricity and destination charging specialist EV.Charge Online also made the league table for the first time, placed ninth and 13^th respectively. 

At the bottom of the table, the legacy Ecotricity Electric Highway points that have not yet been migrated to Gridserve’s new chargers came in last place overall for the second year in a row. Meanwhile, BP Pulse this year slipped into the bottom three, joined by Charge Your Car, also owned by BP Pulse. However, Zap-Map highlighted that not all issues experienced by EV drivers can be attributed directly to the network, as they do not always own the chargers and set the tariffs.

Zap-Map user ratings for public EV charging networks in the UK”

EV Network	Rank	Overall Rating*	Star Rating**	Rank 2020
InstaVolt	1	4.4		2
MFG EV Power	2	4.2		n/a
Osprey	3	4.0		3
Pod Point	4	3.8		4
GRIDSERVE Electric Highway	Joint 5	3.6		n/a
Shell Recharge	Joint 5	3.6		6
NewMotion	Joint 7	3.5		8
IONITY	Joint 7	3.5		10
Ubitricity	9	3.4		n/a
Swarco E.connect	10	3.3		5
GeniePoint (includes ENGIE points)	11	3.1		12
ESB Energy	12	3.0		7
ChargePlace Scotland	13	2.9		9
Source London	14	2.7		14
EV Charge Online	15	2.6		n/a
bp pulse	16	2.5		13
Charge Your Car	17	2.4		15
Ecotricity Electric Highway (legacy)	18	2.0		16
* Overall Rating calculated to one decimal place for overall ranking.                **Star Rating rounded to nearest 0.5 for display. Networks not included in the league table did not receive the minimum number of responses required to make this year’s rankings. Tesla has been removed from this year’s rankings as the Tesla Supercharger network is not a public network and is currently only available to Tesla drivers.

Commenting on the research, Zap-Map said 2021 had not only seen remarkable growth in the number of new EV drivers on the road but also the charging infrastructure that supports them – there are now close to 30,000 charging devices in the UK, supported by new networks entering the market, a high growth in ultra-rapid chargers, the installation of charging hubs across the country and the growth of options for on-street charging.

However, it also noted that while some EV charging networks are upping their game, others are falling short and there needs to be improvement.

Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder & COO at Zap-Map, said: “Despite significant changes over the course of the year, there are some things that remain the same. EV drivers are clear about the factors that make for a good charging experience, namely reliability and ease of use – and these should be key priorities for the UK’s public charging networks.

“The Zap-Map survey shows that while this is being delivered by some, others are falling short and there needs to be improvement. As we move from the early adopters towards mass EV adoption, making public charging simple becomes more important than ever.”

To access Zap-Map’s 2021 EV charging network rankings, click here.