London borough of Westminster has more electric car charging points than any other UK area - research by Motorway.co.uk

●      An FOI request reveals that Westminster has the highest concentration of EV charging points with 1.47 per 1000 population

●      Bexley is the only London borough with no public charging points

●      Milton Keynes has the highest concentration of EV charging points of any other UK town/city (excluding London), with 0.83 per 1000 population

●      Hull, Northampton, Mansfield and Swansea have no public charging points

●      Note: Charging points on private land weren’t considered for this research

The London borough of Westminster has 375 public electric vehicle (EV) charging points, more than anywhere else in the country, according to research by car selling comparison website Motorway.co.uk.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request to all London boroughs and major UK town and city councils, made by Motorway.co.uk, reveals that Westminster, one of the wealthiest areas in the country, also has the highest concentration of EV charging points with 1.47 per 1000 population. The council say they plan to have 468 public charging points installed by the end of the year.

Three other boroughs - Richmond upon Thames, Hammersmith & Fulham and Wandsworth - each have more than 200 public electric vehicle charging points. While, Bexley is the only borough which hasn’t installed any public charging points to date, although the council plans to have 13 points operational by the end of the year.

Outside London, Milton Keynes, with a population of 230,000, has the highest concentration of EV charging points, with 0.83 per 1000 population, and 192 points across the town. Nottingham with 215 charging points has more than any other UK town/city.

Kingston Upon Hull, Mansfield, Northampton and Swansea currently have no public electric vehicle charging points. These are all major towns with more than 150,000 population.

The government recently announced a £400 million investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure, with half funded by private sector partners. It hopes to have 5,000 rapid charging points operational by 2024.

The following table shows the UK towns/cities (excluding London) with the highest and lowest concentration of public EV charging points.

The following table shows London boroughs with the highest concentration of EV charging points.

The following table shows London boroughs with the lowest concentration of EV charging points.

Alex Buttle, director of car selling comparison website Motorway.co.uk comments:

“UK government has a mammoth task on its hands to create an EV charging infrastructure that can cope with the expected growth in electric car ownership over the next 20 years. In fact its own 2040 switchover target from fossil fuels depends on it.

“Although we only looked at public, not private charging points (and home charging will make up a significant number of points), there will still be a huge reliance on public charging infrastructure. And it’s severely lacking at present.

“Figures supplied by local councils suggest a worrying disparity between towns and cities with the highest and lowest concentrations of charging points. While some areas have made significant progress in building a capable charging infrastructure, other areas appear to be well behind the curve. The ramifications on local economies of a substandard charging infrastructure could be severe.

“There is also a more pressing issue. The government is trying to encourage people to switch to electric cars, but many vehicle owners are reluctant to do so until they are confident that the  infrastructure is fit for purpose.

“We carried out a survey of UK drivers recently and an inadequate charging infrastructure was the most common reason cited by respondents as to why they wouldn’t consider switching to an electric car over the next five years.

“Brexit is understandably at the top of the government’s agenda at the moment, but it’s in danger of taking its eyes off this huge infrastructure challenge, and a public that has no faith in the charging programme,  is unlikely to buy into the idea of early switching.”

-- ENDS --

Notes to Editors

Methodology

Motorway.co.uk analysed council data on electric vehicle (EV) charging points, obtained through a Freedom of Information request made in September 2019. Data from all London boroughs (except Brent and Hillingdon) and more than 50 major towns and cities was obtained and analysed.

The data provided covers public charging points installed by councils and doesn’t include charging points installed on private land.