The UK has hit the landmark of having 50,000 public chargers, on track to having 100,000 charging devices by August 2025.

The 50,000th charger was an ultra-rapid device operated by en-route provider MFG EV Power

The milestone was confirmed in new data from Zapmap, which revealed that the 50,000th charger was an ultra-rapid device installed at a service station in Weston-super-Mare and operated by en-route provider MFG EV Power.

The breakthrough reflects strong growth in two key areas of UK charging infrastructure. Latest Zapmap quarterly statistics published last week showed that the number of ultra-rapid charge points in the UK has increased by 68% since September 2022, with the number of slow chargers increasing by almost 68% as well.

The new milestone also demonstrates the accelerating rate of charge point installation – October’s 50,000 charge point milestone follows hot on the heels of the 40,000 mark in February 2023, the 30,000 landmark in February 2022 and the 20,000 threshold in September 2020. The 10,000 charging device milestone was reached in August 2018.

Given the current rate of installation, Zapmap’s calculations show that the UK is likely to reach 100,000 charging devices in August 2025.

Thanks to accelerating installation rates, the UK is likely to reach 100,000 charging devices in August 2025. Credit: Zapmap

Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder & COO at Zapmap, said: “Hitting 50,000 public charging devices is a really important milestone for the country and illustrates the sea change behind the increased rate of charge point installations.

“Having passed 40,000 charge points in February, our predictions are that there will be 100,000 chargers by August 2025 – which would certainly be a major achievement.

“Alongside the number of high-power charging hubs in the UK more than doubling in the past year, as we saw last week, these are changes that bring real benefits to electric car drivers up and down the country.”

UK charging association ChargeUK said the new milestone was testament to the investment, vision and hard work of members.

Ian Johnson, chair of the trade body, said: “The rate of deployment is increasing all the time; in the last 12 months alone, the public charge point network has increased by 43%. However, we can go further and faster with the right policies and help from government to remove barriers that constrain the rollout.

“Public chargers are part of a wider picture. The way people charge their EV depends on their lifestyle, many people charge at home, others charge on their street, whilst many will either charge at destinations or en route on their journeys.

“Our members are focused on ensuring drivers have access to the right charger in the right place.”

And James Court, CEO at EVA England, added: “Lack of charging, both real and perceived, is the biggest issue holding back electric vehicles, and hopefully we will see the blockers in planning and grid removed so that 50K milestones happen more frequently in the future.”