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‘Dual fuel’ owners opt for electric over ICE for most journeys

Home / Auto News / ‘Dual fuel’ owners opt for electric over ICE for most journeys

Around a third of electric vehicle drivers run a petrol or diesel vehicle too, according to new research.

What’s more, the research from leading EV charge point mapping service Zap-Map, suggests that electric is chosen for the vast majority of journeys by ‘dual fuel’ drivers.

The type of journey electric is most likely to be favoured for is a local daily trip such as going shopping, the school run or eating out, for which 85% of the time dual fuel drivers will take the EV.

For commutes, 71% these drivers use their EV, and even for journeys of over 100 miles 67% will stick with electric.

Even for UK based holidays, likely to involve long cross-country journeys reliant on the public charging network, a majority of 55% will leave the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) car at home.

The annual Zap-Map EV Charging Survey showed that most EV owners only own electric, with 49% driving just one fully electric vehicle, 8% two or more, while 2% own or regularly use one battery electric and one plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

In addition, 25% drive one battery-electric car and one ICE vehicle, while the remainder drive a mixture of battery electric, plug-in hybrid and/or ICE vehicles.

Satisfaction levels for electric vehicles remain higher than for petrol and diesel. Less than 2% of EV drivers want to return to petrol or diesel compared to 9 out of 10 who would not consider trading for a conventional car.

The report shows 89% satisfaction for battery-electric vehicles and 83% for plug-in hybrid electric — both higher than 71% for petrol and diesel.

‘Our survey has shown for several years now that once you go electric, you don’t go back,” said Melanie Shufflebotham, COO & Co-Founder of Zap-Map.

“This year we’ve gone further to show that drivers who haven’t quite let their conventional car go yet still choose to drive their electric. Even for those long cross-country journeys where a charge stop is likely to be necessary.”

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Revealed: England’s most popular public EV charging locations

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.

“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.”

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

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.

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.

“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.”

Top 20 fastest cities to charge your electric car

With more than 480,000 pure electric cars and 390,000 plug-in hybrids on UK roads, public attention is increasingly turning to our electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.

Admiral Car Insurance has teamed up with Zap-Map, the UK’s leading EV charge point mapping service, to shine a light on the towns and cities that are currently best served for the two quickest types of charging points, known as rapid and ultra-rapid chargers.

Unlike fossil fuel cars, EVs can recharge almost anywhere – at home, at work and on the public network. With extra flexibility for EVs comes a little added complexity, such as different speeds of chargers and, therefore, different uses for them.

EV drivers charging at home, for instance, typically use what are known as ‘slow’ or ‘fast’ devices to charge up overnight.

In contrast, rapid chargers take between 20 minutes to an hour to add around 100 miles of charge – and are found at many different locations from motorway service areas and fuel forecourts to restaurants, hotels and retail car parks.

Even speedier are ultra-rapid devices, which can around 100 miles of charge in as little as 15 minutes. Useful for drivers undertaking longer journeys, they tend to be found in groups of between six and ten. The analysis saw Birmingham come out on top in this respect, with 39 high-powered ultra-rapid chargers.

As the 2030 ban on petrol and diesel cars draws ever nearer, and the number of EV owners continues to rise, Admiral’s own data shows the growing popularity of electric vehicles, with drivers insuring 79% more pure electric vehicles (and 20% more hybrid vehicles) in 2022 compared with 2021.

Meanwhile, the number of rapid and ultra-rapid chargers has also shown promising growth in recent years. While there were just 973 rapid and ultra-rapid devices at the end of 2016, by the end of April 2022 the UK had over 5,750 rapid and ultra-rapid public chargers – more than a 490% increase.¹

Particularly important for EV drivers undertaking longer journeys is the increase in the number of ultra-rapid devices over the past year. Between April 2021 and April 2022, the UK has seen a 74% increase in the number of ultra-rapid devices, the quickest available.

Top 20 fastest UK cities to charge your electric car

Town	Rapid	Ultra-Rapid	Grand Total
Nottingham	92	30	122
Milton Keynes	100	6	106
Leeds	60	17	77
Birmingham	34	39	73
Coventry	71		71
Bristol	45	23	68
Manchester	36	26	62
Sheffield	48	9	57
Glasgow	46	6	52
Wolverhampton	26	23	49
Norwich	20	28	48
Dundee	36	8	44
Bradford	39		39
Exeter	10	27	37
Slough	7	29	36
Derby	20	14	34
Cardiff	24	10	34
Banbury	5	29	34
Preston	31	2	33
Newcastle upon Tyne	31	2	33

Revealed: UK’s best electric vehicle charge point networks

Gareth Herincx

16 hours ago
Auto News

Zap-Map reveals UK’s best electric vehicle charge point networks

Zap-Map, the UK’s leading electric vehicle mapping service, has released its annual public charging network satisfaction rankings.

The league table, now in its fourth year, comes from Zap-Map’s annual EV charging survey, which had more than 3,000 respondents and is the most established and comprehensive survey of EV drivers in the UK.

As part of the survey, respondents rated their overall satisfaction for the networks they use regularly, which is then used to rank each network out of a maximum of five stars. They also rated their level of satisfaction with the networks in four key areas: reliability, ease of use, cost and facilities

In first place overall this year is InstaVolt. The rapid charging network scored particularly highly for reliability and ease of use, securing its ‘Best EV Charging Network’ badge.

Taking the ‘EV Driver Recommended’ second and third places respectively are two other rapid charging networks, MFG EV Power and Osprey.

Zap-Map user ratings for public EV charging networks in the UK

EV network	Overall rating
InstaVolt	4.4
MFG EV Power	4.2
Osprey	4.0
Pod Point	3.8
GRIDSERVE Electric Highway	3.6
Shell Recharge	3.6
NewMotion	3.5
IONITY	3.5
Ubitricity	3.4
Swarco E.connect	3.3
GeniePoint (includes ENGIE)	3.1
ESB Energy	3.0
ChargePlace Scotland	2.9
Source London	2.7
EV Charge Online	2.6
bp pulse	2.5

“Despite significant changes over the course of the year, there are some things that remain the same,” said Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and COO at Zap-Map.

“EV drivers are clear about the factors that make for a good charging experience, namely reliability and ease of use – and these should be key priorities for the UK’s public charging networks.

“The Zap-Map survey shows that while this is being delivered by some, others are falling short and there needs to be improvement. As we move from the early adopters towards mass EV adoption, making public charging simple becomes more important than ever.”

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