The UK local authorities leading the way on public charging rollout have been revealed in new research.

The research comes as plug-in electrified vehicles now account for 21% of the UK new car market

Citroën UK analysed government data on the number of public chargers per 100,000 residents across the UK and found Welwyn Hatfield in Hertfordshire was top of the list.

The local authority recorded the highest percentage increase since October 2019, with a 754% rise in charging devices available. There are now 90.4 charging devices per 100,000 people in the borough, up from 10.6 in 2019.

Brighton and Hove in East Sussex achieved the second-highest rise, with a 496% increase in the number of devices per 100,000 residents. There were 121 charging devices per 100,000 people in the area as of October 2022.

In terms of total public charging devices per local authority, Westminster has by far the most charging points, with 1,494 devices in place, followed by Wandsworth with 873 and Coventry at 695, as of October 2022.

The UK has witnessed a 129% rise in the total number of public charging devices over the three-year period. In October 2022, there were 34,637 public charging devices nationwide, including 6,395 rapid charging devices – those with speeds above 25kW.

Citroën also analysed the increases in the number of rapid chargers per 100,000 people over the same period, with Stafford in Staffordshire recording the highest percentage increase in devices per 100,000 residents – a rise of 435% since October 2019. Stafford now has 27.6 rapid charging devices per 100,000 people, up from 5.2 three years ago.

South Gloucestershire and North Warwickshire recorded the second and third-highest increases per 100,000 people.

The study comes as the latest SMMT figures show that 21.4% of UK new car registrations in October were for plug-in vehicles – either fully electric or plug-in hybrids.

Eurig Druce, Citroën UK’s managing director, said: “Widespread access to public charging points is one of the cornerstones that must be in place as we push towards making the UK a true electric vehicle nation. As Citroën moves towards offering electrified variants across its entire model range by 2025, our research highlights which local authorities are recording the biggest percentage increases in public chargers for their residents.”

Top 10 local authorities recording the highest increase in public charging devices per 100,000 people since October 2019:

Top 10 local authorities recording the highest increase in rapid public charging devices per 100,000 people since October 2019:

* Citroën UK compared the percentage rise in the number of public charging devices per 100,000 people across local authorities in the UK, between October 2019 and October 2022. To be considered for analysis, each local authority had to have at least 10 charging devices per 100,000 people in October 2019.  To be considered for the rapid charging analysis, each local authority had to have at least 5.0 rapid charging devices per 100,000 people in October 2019.