The UK’s public charging network gained more than 5,500 extra charge points in the first quarter of 2024, as charge point operators picked up the pace further on installations.

Osprey installed the most high-powered charge points in Q1

There are now 59,590 charging devices installed across the UK, according to the end of March data from Zapmap. That’s up 10.5% since the end of 2023 and 47% in the last 12 months.

The rate of charge point installation also continues to increase. For Q1, over 1,900 charge points went live per month – up 35% on the 2023 average of 1,400 per month.

Of the 5,725 public chargers installed in the quarter, 25% of them (1,436) are high-powered devices – including 832 ultra-rapid devices (150kW+).

And 75% of the rapid and ultra-rapid charge points deployed since the end of 2023 were installed by the top five networks responsible for high-power charging infrastructure in the UK: InstaVolt, Tesla, BP Pulse, Osprey and Gridserve. Of these, Osprey led the charge in the first quarter after installing more than 350 charge points.

There were some notable new entrants and challengers in the rapid and ultra-rapid sector. These include Sainsbury’s with its new Smart Charge ultra-rapid network, which already comprises almost 190 chargers – over half of which were installed in 2023.

Applegreen Electric also continues its expansion and now operates around 160 ultra-rapid devices up and down the UK, primarily at Welcome Break motorway service areas.

More than 55 new high-power charging hubs now available

The Zapmap data also illustrates a continuing trend to install high-powered hubs – popular with electric drivers to support longer journeys – with 55 new charging hubs installed across the country in the first quarter of the year.

These are being located across all areas across the country. Notably, Northern Ireland – recently revealed to have the “worst access to electric vehicle chargers” – saw its first two hubs installed by Ionity at the Kennedy Centre, Belfast, and at Toomebridge by Lough Neagh.

The South West saw 11 new hubs open during January, February and March – an increase of almost 58%. There are now 30 high-power charging hubs in the region, having risen from 19 at the end of December.

Elsewhere, the East of England leads the way with 42 hubs as of the end of March, followed by Scotland with 39 and the North West with 38.

On-street charging provision continues to grow

Zapmap’s data also shows that on-street charge point provision continued to grow in the first quarter of the year. Almost 1,500 new on-street chargers (1,423) were installed over January to the end of March, bringing the total number to 21,475.

At present, the majority of these (16,405) are located in Greater London. However, the rest of the UK is seeing far higher growth in the number of on-street devices being installed.

While London saw an increase of just over 4% in the first three months of the year, the remainder of the UK saw the number of on-street chargers soar from 4,325 at the end of December up to 5,070 at the end of March, a rise of more than 17%.

These latest on-street charge points are still typically being installed under the Government’s ORCS scheme (On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme), while new funding has started to be allocated to local authorities through the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure scheme.

But Zapmap warned that it’s unlikely that there will be a significant increase in local on-street charging provision this year due to the lengthy procurement hoops needed to pass through.

UK charge point installation data for Q1 2024

Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder & COO at Zapmap, said: “It’s fantastic to see that the strong pace of charger installations seen last year has already been exceeded in the first quarter of 2024. In particular, high-powered chargers and hubs are showing great momentum, with new hubs and chargers popping up everywhere from supermarkets to motorway services and retail outlets.

“Our aim at Zapmap is both to help drivers to find suitable, reliable chargers when they are out and about and also to give petrol and diesel drivers the confidence to make the switch.

“It is undoubtedly great news for electric car drivers that the sheer number and as well as the variety of charging options are improving every month.”