The UK now has more than 70,000 public EV charging points following the latest surge.

The total number of charge points in the UK was up 37% year on year

Newly published figures issued by the Department for Transport, which include several data instalments, show there were 73,334 public electric vehicle charging devices installed in the UK as of 1 January 2025, according to Zapmap data.

In the last year, the total number of charge points in the UK has risen 37% with an extra 19,657 devices. The number of charging devices in urban areas increased by 35%, or 14,021 devices, while the number of charging devices in rural areas increased by 45%, or 2,974 devices.

In the last quarter, since 1 October 2024, the total installed devices increased by 3,292, an increase of 5%. The UK also saw an increase in the number of public charging devices in all countries and regions.

The latest figures also break down the speed and location of the current charging provision.

As of 1 January 2025, the UK had 14,448 rapid/ultra-rapid devices with 50kW of power or above, accounting for 20% of all charging devices. The biggest speed category is slow chargers – with a power rating of 3kW up to 8kW and typically used for on-street charging provision – of which there were 41,678 at the start of the year, representing 57% of all devices.

Almost half (49%) – equating to 35,995 devices – UK devices were designated as ‘destination’ chargers, while just over at third (36%) – some 26,318 devices – were ‘on street’ chargers.

The latest data also shows the ongoing uneven geographical distribution of charging devices within the UK.

As of 1 January, London had the highest level of charging provision per 100,000 of population, with 250 devices per 100,000. In contrast, Northern Ireland had the lowest level of charging device provision in the UK, with 36 devices per 100,000, followed by the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber, each with 66 devices per 100,000. By way of comparison, the average provision in the UK was 108 per 100,000.

The latest data release includes figures for July to September 2024, which were postponed in response to an error that was identified in the data feed of a single charge point operator and affected less than 0.4% of the total UK number.

Phil Douglass, Vauxhall Electric Streets director, said the figures show encouraging signs of growth for the UK’s electric vehicle charging landscape.

“While the 37% increase in total number of charge points across the country is positive news, the 27% rise in on-street charge points compared to January 2024 is a particularly welcome boost for electric vehicle drivers without access to driveways or private charging.

“As we see the number of public charge points across the UK continue to rise, it is important that councils deploy their charging strategies tactically, installing charge points for those who need it most. Vauxhall launched Electric Streets of Britain to support councils with this issue and has so far received registrations from over 12,000 UK residents who say they need on-street charging in their area. It’s important to match supply to demand so they get used, but we’re also seeing that chargers installed will encourage people to make the switch to electric knowing they have a convenient place to charge nearby.”

The publication of the figures follows last week’s announcement of a multi-million-pound investment in UK charging provision.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the newly launched National Wealth Fund (NWF) has committed a £55m ordinary equity investment into on-street electric vehicle charging specialist Connected Kerb.

The investment, accompanied by a further £10m ordinary equity investment from Aviva Investors, will back plans for Connected Kerb to expand its UK EV charging network towards 40,000 sockets – up from 9,000 as of the end of 2024.