The UK has been revealed as one of the leading European countries for charge point infrastructure, providing further evidence that access to charging and range anxiety should not be barriers to EV uptake.

The UK has more than 24,000 public charge points

A report by new energy consultancy Delta-EE found that the UK has more than 24,000 public charge points, equating to nine EVs per charge point – a better ratio than recommended by the European Commission of 10 EVs per charge point. According to research in August 2019, the UK now has more charging stations than fuel stations.

The UK also makes greater uptake of home charging compared to its European neighbours according to Delta; 61% of EV drivers in the UK use a dedicated home EV charge point, versus an average of 54% in other European countries.

The research also looked at charge point implementation in the five leading EV market in Europe – covering Norway, France, Germany, the UK and the Netherlands – and found these markets account for over 75% of installed charge points across Europe. Latest ‘EV readiness’ research released by LeasePlan last week found the Netherlands, Norway and the UK are now the best prepared countries in Europe for the electric vehicle revolution. The analysis – carried out among 22 European countries – found that overall improvements in EV readiness were due to a combination of the increased availability of public charging infrastructure (up 73%) and a more beneficial taxation regime for EV drivers in many countries.

The research comes a day after the UK government announced it’s doubling the funding available for on-street charge points to £10m in 2021; however concerns have previously been raised that local authorities have not been taking advantage of the funding.

Commenting on its research, Delta-EE said we can’t get complacent over the charging infrastructure and should be urging local authorities to install charge points in their area.

Delta-EE’s work also found that despite the UK being one of the charging infrastructure leaders in Europe, there is still a regional disparity, with London, Scotland, South East and South West having the greatest density of infrastructure.

Alexander Lewis-Jones, senior analyst at Delta-EE, said: “We often hear about calls for more charge points, but the current points are underutilised. If you’re an investor, that doesn’t fill you with confidence on your rate of return. The sector needs to be more creative in finding revenues and making the business case stack up.”

The report also highlights businesses are considering a range of business models to increase the rate of return. Faster, so-called ‘rapid’ charging infrastructure is significantly more expensive compared to most standard chargers but is nevertheless increasingly being deployed to reduce the time it takes to top up.

Lewis-Jones added: “The charge point landscape will continue to change, with destination charging, transit charging and on-street charging all having valuable roles to play in our EV journey. Different business models will be developed and deployed for each of these as the revenues stack differently depending on the consumer’s interaction with the infrastructure.”