Category: rapid charger

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.”

Soaring cost of rapid charging an EV

VW-e-Up-charging

The average price of charging an electric car on a pay-as-you go, non-subscription basis at a publicly accessible rapid charger in the UK has increased by 21% since September.

Figures analysed by the RAC’s new Charge Watch initiative in association with the national FairCharge campaign show the cost is now around 44.55p per kilowatt hour (kWh).

The 7.81p per kWh increase, from 36.74p at the end of last summer, means that the average cost to complete an 80% rapid charge of a typical family-sized electric car with a 64kWh battery has increased by £4 over this period, from £18.81 to £22.81 now.

In stark contrast, the cost of filling a 55-litre family car from empty to 80% has increased by a huge £14.54 since last September, from £59.67 to £74.21.

RAC EV charging cost comparison

The RAC’s analysis shows that it now costs on average 10p per mile to charge at a rapid charger, up from 8p per mile last September.

This is still nearly half the cost per mile compared to filling a petrol-powered family car, which has risen from 15p per mile since the end of last September to a staggering 19p per mile now. The cost per mile for a similarly sized diesel-powered car is even higher at nearly 21p

The average price of charging at the quickest ultra-rapid chargers – which have a power output of 100kW-plus and can deliver a charge to a compatible vehicle in as little as 20 minutes – has increased by a greater margin of 16.76p per kWh, from 34.21p per kWh in September to 50.97p in May.

This means the cost to charge a vehicle to 80% has risen from £17.51 to £26.10. This, however, is still £48 cheaper than filling a petrol-powered car to 80%, although electric car drivers do not get quite as many miles from an 80% charge as drivers of petrol cars do from an equivalent fill-up of a tank.

The price increases facing drivers of electric cars using publicly accessible chargers can be explained by the rises in the wholesale cost of electricity.

While the cost of charging a zero-emission electric car remains good value compared to topping up a petrol or diesel car, as things stand drivers who can’t charge up at home – which could be as many as one-in-three – are penalised by having to pay a higher rate of VAT on electricity than those who can, something the RAC-backed FairCharge campaign consistently points out. This risks putting off a huge number of drivers from switching to electric next time they change their vehicles.

The FairCharge campaign is therefore calling for the 20% VAT rate currently charged on electricity at public chargers to be cut to match the 5% levied on domestic electricity, thus making it an easier decision for those who cannot charge at home to switch to an electric car.

Doing so would see the cost of charging up at a rapid charger cut by 5.57p per kWh, and at an ultra-rapid charger by 6.37p. This would reduce the cost of an 80% charge by £2.85 and £3.26 on average at rapid and ultra-rapid chargers, respectively.