The Best UK Towns and Cities for Electric Vehicles
Overall, the support for electric vehicles in the UK seems to improve year after year. However, that’s not to say some areas aren’t better than others. Some UK areas have more charging ports than others and some cities are blessed with ‘rapid charging devices’ allowing you to charge your electric vehicle faster and get back on the road.
UK Cities with free electric charging points
Here are the top 20 towns and cities in the UK ranked on charging devices per 100 electric vehicles. These areas are most likely to have the most available charging stations across the entire UK, allowing you to spend less time waiting for an available station.
The South and South West of England are very popular with electric vehicle owners due to large country roads, places to explore and of course the greater density of both standard and rapid EV charging points. If you wish to explore the south by electric vehicle, or try out an electric vehicle to see if it suits your lifestyle, visit Volt-Age’s range of EV’s for hire today.
The list includes both standard and rapid electrical vehicle charging. The difference being rapid ev chargers are typically able to fully charge a car in 30-60 minutes and can produce at least 43kW of power.
Best and worst areas in London for EV charging
The amount of EV charging stations in London has gradually increased over the past 10 years. Demand has increased throughout the city due to TFL’s introduction of the Congestion Charge and the Ultra-Low Emission Zone. However some boroughs in London have more EV charging stations than others, so if you’re looking for a place to stay for the weekend, or researching where in London you want to live, the amount of public charging stations is very important if you are an EV owner.
Central and East London have by far the greatest density of EV charging points in London. Areas such as Hammersmith, Fulham, Richmond, Greenwich and Wandsworth work out as great areas to charge your electric vehicle whilst out and about in London.
United Kingdom charging point density
The number of charging points per 100,000 people shows great density in Scotland, South and North East England, and of course London.
Source: Zap-Map
Will more EV charging points Be added across the UK?
The British government have pledged to invest in the electric car network. Their aim is to have a charging point within 30 miles of every electric vehicle owner.
Additionally, various EV charging companies such as Ionity and Chargemaster (now owned by BP) are looking to create larger charging stations with 10+ machines that would feature at service stations as well as other big cities across the country. These aim to utilise rapid charging technology to fully charge your vehicle in under 20 minutes.
Final Thoughts
Thanks to the boom of electric vehicles, we now have more than 42,000 free-to-use public electric charge point connectors in the UK. Be aware some charge points, especially those located in store car parks, may restrict you to a set period of time or may require you to be a purchasing customer, so it’s best to do your research beforehand.
If you’re still confused about EV charging, be sure to check out our charging guide. It covers everything you need to know for a first time EV driver in the UK.
Based in Portsmouth, Volt-Age can supply electric vehicles for hire across the UK. We are in a prime location for those who require EV car hire in London, as well as those arriving in the sunny Southern cities of Bournemouth, Southampton and Brighton.