Motorway services topple supermarkets as most popular EV charging location

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Gareth Herincx

16 hours ago
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Audi RS e-tron GT charging

New research by Zapmap, the leading charge point mapping service, has revealed that motorway services and EV charging hubs have displaced supermarket car parks as the most popular charging locations in the UK.

This year, 55% of EV drivers they regularly stop at motorway services to charge, while 47% do so at EV charging hubs – these are up from 48% and 34% respectively last year.

This reflects the increasing number of charging hubs – which Zapmap defines as groups of six or more rapid or ultra-rapid devices – that are opening across the country.

At the end of November 2022, for instance, Zapmap data shows there were 99 open-access charging hubs, while at the end of November 2023 this more than doubled to 239.

In contrast, only 36% said they use supermarket car parks to charge their vehicles, down from 50% the previous year. The drop corresponds with the removal of many free-to-use chargers at supermarkets almost a year ago.

Jade Edwards, Head of Insights at Zapmap, said the “survey gives you a good indication of just how quickly the country’s charging infrastructure is developing”.

The research also showed that although 80% of respondents have a home charger, the vast majority of EV drivers continue to use public charging networks across the country.

Of these, national charge point operators Gridserve, Pod Point and InstaVolt are the most popular – with 36%, 34% and 34%, respectively, using them in the last six months.

As such, this year sees Gridserve has overtaken Pod Point in terms of being the network used by the highest number of respondents on a regular basis – although most used does not necessarily equate to highest satisfaction, as Zapmap’s recent charging network rankings demonstrate.

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Play your cards right with cinchCharge

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We test the “faff-free” app and card that makes charging an EV much easier…

The great switch to electric vehicles is not without its issues. The high upfront cost of EVs, range anxiety and finding a public charger, to name but a few.

Then there’s the multitude of different companies providing chargers, each requiring registration, meaning some EV drivers have phones packed with apps or wallets loaded with (RFID) cards.

Anything that can smooth things along helps, which is why car marketplace, cinch, is on to a winner with cinchCharge.

cinchCharge

Marketed as “faff-free EV charging”, cinchCharge is a payment card and app which gives cinch EV buyers access to more than 30,000 public chargepoint connectors across over 18 networks.

In one fell swoop, electric car drivers who’ve bought via cinch can pay for charging using the cinchCharge card or app without having to shuffle cards and flick through different apps.

We’ve been testing out cinchCharge for ourselves over the last couple of months and we’re impressed.

The cinchCharge app helps you find and filter accessible public chargers by availability, speed and distance from your location.

cinchCharge app

What’s more, the cinchCharge app is free to download, there’s no monthly subscription and no fees.

When you stop at the charger, simply tap the cinchCharge card or use the app to start charging. Then you end your charging session and payment is taken from your linked debit or credit card, so you only pay for what you use.

The cinchCharge card worked perfectly on every public charger we used, including Gridserve, Motor Fuel Group, Osprey and Ionity.

Typically, there were also a couple of occasions where we were miffed because we weren’t able to use fast chargers on the Instavolt and BP Pulse networks, because they are not cinchCharge providers, but on the whole, the coverage is impressive.

The app is fine, though perhaps not the slickest out there, but it is integrated with Google Maps, Waze and Apple Maps, meaning you can easily get directions to chargers, once you have located them.

Subaru Solterra charging

What’s more, the interactive map within cinchCharge shows you whether the chargepoint is available, compatible, the speed it will charge your car, as well as highlighting the price.

Our only suggestion is that would be a great bonus if the kWh prices were discounted a little for cinch owners.

So, overall cinchCharge works and certainly alleviates one of the key “faffs” of owning an electric vehicle (ie registering with various suppliers and needing multiple cards).

It’s just a shame that all EV drivers can’t benefit from cinchCharge and you have to buy a car via cinch in order to be able to access it!

Revealed: England’s most popular public EV charging locations

Electric car charging bay

The most popular public electric vehicle charging locations have been revealed by Zap-Map, the UK’s leading EV charging app.

The findings come during one of the busiest periods on the roads as families travel across the country during the summer holidays.

Based on analysis of the more than 1.6 million charging sessions tracked by Zap-Map over the second quarter of 2022, the top five charging locations are:

1. GRIDSERVE Electric Super Hub at Moto Rugby
Moto opened its Rugby site in April last year, complete with a flagship, GRIDSERVE Electric Super Hub just off the M6. It has 12 high-power charging devices, which have both CCS and CHAdeMO connectors. Accepting contactless payments and capable of charging at up to 350 kW, these chargers can add around 100 miles in 10 minutes.

2. GRIDSERVE Electric Super Hub at Moto Exeter
This Electric Super Hub at Moto’s Exeter site has some 17 charging devices, with something for everyone. Indeed, the hub boasts two fast Type 2 AC chargers, three medium-power, and twelve 350 kW-capable devices with CCS and CHAdeMO connectors. Opened on March 31st, on a popular holiday route, GRIDSERVE’s Exeter Super Hub is off to a flying start in its first three months of operation with a 240% increase in EV traffic on site.

3. MFG EV Power – Newington
MFG EV Power, the ultra-rapid charging network belonging to Motor Fuel Group, also makes it into the UK’s most popular charging locations with its ultra-rapid charging hub at Newington in south London. Sporting seven charging devices, the hub is conveniently located next to the A201, between Elephant & Castle and Bermondsey.

4. bp pulse – bp Hammersmith
bp pulse’s Hammersmith charging hub is just off the A4, between Hammersmith and Barons Court tube stations. With one rapid charging device and four ultra-rapid devices, the hub may well be the smallest of the top five, but its location next to the Hammersmith Flyover sees it put to extremely good use.

5. GRIDSERVE Braintree Electric Forecourt
GRIDSERVE’s first Electric Forecourt at Braintree in Essex opened in late 2020 – and boasts a whopping 30 charging devices. While these are predominantly ultra-rapid devices for EV drivers topping up on longer journeys, the hub sees some fast and rapid devices thrown in too for good measure. Located just off the A131, adjacent to Great Notley, the chargers are powered by a canopy of solar panels, as well as GRIDSERVE’s network of solar farms. There’s also a 6 MWh battery on site that allows solar energy to be stored.

GRIDSERVE Braintree Electric Forecourt

“With over 500,000 pure-electric cars on UK roads, and the number of EV drivers joining their ranks showing no signs of slowing, high-power charging hubs are becoming increasingly popular, as these five most popular charging locations show us,” said Melanie Shufflebotham, Zap-Map Co-founder & COO.

“It’s great to see so many people joining the EV community and using these ultra-rapid hubs, not only because they enable longer electric journeys, but ultimately because every EV driver on the road is helping to reduce our carbon emissions.

“It is popular locations such as these that help to provide peace of mind for EV drivers undertaking longer journeys, who know they can easily find a convenient location for a quick boost.”

Toddington Harper, GRIDSERVE CEO, added: “It’s great to see three of our GRIDSERVE Electric Highway locations in the top five most used sites across England.

“We are committed to building an awesome UK-wide charging network, enabling anyone, anywhere, in any type of EV to take on any journey and have a great customer experience.

“GRIDSERVE Electric Super Hubs and Electric Forecourts® help provide EV drivers the confidence they need to undertake any journey, irrespective of what electric vehicle they drive, and charge quickly, reliably, and affordably.

“We’ve launched seven Electric Super Hubs so far this year, including Exeter, through our partnership with Moto plus our Electric Forecourt in Norwich and we will continue to deliver many more locations on the GRIDSERVE Electric Highway throughout this year and ongoing.

“This is the sort of action that is necessary to move the needle on climate change, and it’s great to see how the passion and the pace of development within GRIDSERVE is delivering such a positive impact.”

VW-e-Up-charging

Ken McMeikan, CEO at Moto Hospitality said: “I am delighted to see our Moto sites at Rugby and Exeter occupying the top two spots, it’s a real vote of confidence from motorists in both our charging offer and our fantastic facilities.

“As the largest UK Motorway Services Operator, we are continuing our mission to transform the UK’s rest stop experience. Reducing range anxiety by revolutionising the EV charging experience for motorists on motorways is at the heart of our plans.”

As of the end of July 2022, there were more than 20,300 charging locations across the UK with almost 33,300 charging devices, according to Zap-Map data.

This represents a 35% increase in the total number of charging devices since July 2021, while there has been a 70% increase in the number of ultra-rapid devices across the country in the same time period.

The Zap-Map app helps EV drivers search for available charge points, plan longer journeys and pay for charging on participating networks. It now has more than 430,000 registered users.

Rollout of EV chargers in UK gathers pace

Cars recharging at supermarket - Gareth Herincx

The total number of public electric car chargers across the UK has grown by almost 15% since the end of December.

According to Zap-Map, the UK’s leading EV charging app, there’s been an increase from 28,458 to 32,663 of devices.

The biggest growth sector was ultra-rapid charging which grew 40% in the first half of 2022, which shows that the ultra-rapid charging roll-out is more than keeping pace with the increase in EV drivers, which has grown 29% over the same period.

The growth in ultra-rapid charge points is largely due to networks such as MFG EV Power, InstaVolt and GRIDSERVE Electric Highway, which are rolling out high-speed charging ‘hubs’ of at least six devices across the country.

GRIDSERVE, Braintree, Essex

In terms of where chargers are located, of the 4,205 new devices installed this year, 1,662 of them are ‘on-street’ chargers.

Found on residential streets, on-street devices tend to be either slow or fast chargers and, generally speaking, provide an alternative to charging at home.

The number of these chargers has increased by just under 19% in 2022 so far, growing from 8,842 at the end of 2021 to 10,504 at the end of June.

Although a combination of networks, including char.gy and Connected Kerb, has been driving the growth of on-street chargers, ubitricity – which predominantly fits slow devices into lampposts – has installed 981 chargers so far this year, the most of any network.

VW-e-Up-charging

“The 40% increase in the number of ultra-rapid chargers is clearly the headline figure so far in 2022. These types of chargers make longer journeys far easier, so the big increase should really mean we see an end to ‘range anxiety’,” said Melanie Shufflebotham, Co-founder & COO at Zap-Map.

“But let’s not forget that slower chargers also have a critical role to play. They might not provide the excitement of adding hundreds of miles in minutes – but with more than half a million pure-electric cars now on UK roads, their part to play in the adoption of electric cars is just as important as their ultra-rapid counterparts.

“It’s crucial that the rollout of high-speed charging hubs continues at pace, alongside the increasing provision of on-street chargers for those without driveways, ideally with local councils engaged along the way.”