UK rapid charging grows faster than total network

That equates to 174.9 public EVSE per 100,000 people and 41.7 rapid-or-above EVSE per 100,000.

High-power charging accounted for most of the net quarterly increase

At 1 April, the UK had 119,080 public EVSE, including 27,372 at 50 kW or above. By 1 July the totals had risen by 2,091 and 1,515 respectively.

Taken at face value, around 72% of the net quarterly increase was in 50 kW+ provision. The comparison needs an important data-quality caveat: one CPO removed approximately 1,270 private chargers from its public-data feed in June after they had previously been classified incorrectly as publicly available.

DfT says 5,119 public EVSE had been added to the network during 2026 by 1 July, compared with 13,281 during the whole of 2025. The June correction means the net 2026 trend understates some physical deployment activity.

The power mix is shifting upwards

Power band	Share of public EVSE
3 to <8 kW	49%
8 to <50 kW	27%
50 to <150 kW	12%
150 kW+	12%

In April, 50% of public EVSE were in the 3 to <8 kW band and 11% were 150 kW+. By July those shares had moved to 49% and 12% respectively.

The change is small in percentage terms, but it supports the wider trend towards more rapid and ultra-rapid provision alongside continued growth in lower-power residential and destination charging.

EVSE and charging devices are not the same measure

DfT changed its headline statistical measure at the start of 2026 from charging devices to individual EVSE. A device can provide more than one EVSE where multiple vehicles can charge simultaneously.

As of 1 July, the UK had 121,171 public EVSE but 97,266 public charging devices. Using one figure in place of the other can therefore make network comparisons misleading.

London remains structurally different from the rest of the UK

London had by far the highest total public EVSE provision at 345.1 per 100,000 people, but only 27.9 rapid-or-above EVSE per 100,000 – the second-lowest regional rate. DfT attributes this to the capital’s large stock of standard on-street charging.

Scotland had the highest 50 kW+ provision at 59.1 per 100,000 people.

Different charging types now serve different use cases

DfT classifies 52% of public EVSE as destination charging, 33% as on-street, 11% as en-route and 4% as other.

That split is increasingly important. A network dominated by lower-power on-street EVSE serves a different purpose from one built around motorway ultra-rapid hubs, so total charger count alone gives an incomplete picture of charging capability.

Installed power, utilisation, location and the number of simultaneous charging connections are becoming increasingly important alongside the headline EVSE total.