Insufficient charging stations hinders the growth of electric vehicles' popularity
The growth of electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK is facing a significant hurdle—the lack of charging points, particularly in areas without driveways or off-street parking. This issue affects around 40% of UK households, limiting the practical usability and appeal of EVs, and posing a significant barrier to broader EV adoption and the country’s climate targets.
Despite the substantial progress made so far—with over 82,000 public charging devices across 40,000+ locations midway through 2025, marking a 30% year-on-year increase—demand and geographic coverage gaps persist, especially for home charging solutions and public rapid chargers.
To tackle this issue, various initiatives have been launched:
- A recent £63 million government investment package, announced in July 2025, aims to expand EV infrastructure, support households without driveways, aid the NHS fleet transition, and create thousands of public and business depot chargers across the UK.
- A £25 million scheme encourages local councils to install “cross-pavement EV charging gullies”, which safely channel power cables from homes to kerbside chargers, enabling curbside home charging for drivers without off-street parking. This initiative removes hazards from trailing cables and lowers barriers for the 9.3 million UK households without driveways.
- Partnerships between industries, such as Vauxhall’s “Electric Streets of Britain” campaign, collaborate with charging operators to accelerate the rollout of on-street residential chargers and create a national database for residents to request local chargers, boosting the targeted expansion of public charging infrastructure.
- The rapid installation of ultra-rapid chargers (150+ kW) has improved significantly in the first half of 2025, with nearly 1,600 units added. This supports long-distance travel and reduces charging times, enhancing the overall EV ecosystem.
These initiatives aim to provide more chargers and address solutions for at-home charging access, directly tackling one of the largest impediments to EV growth in the UK. However, the slowing rollout rate, indicated by the addition of only 1,371 public charging points in June (46 per day), remains a concern.
Susan Wells, a director of EV charging point firm Hive, emphasised that charging should be as straightforward as filling up a petrol or diesel car. The shortage of charging points is one of the reasons for the dwindling demand for electric cars, and it poses a major threat to efforts to boost demand for EVs and meet net zero targets.
The Department for Transport is investing £400m across the Spending Review to help the public charging network continue to grow. With the UK government's plans to give motorists up to £3,750 to switch to electric vehicles, addressing the charging point shortage is crucial to encouraging more people to make the transition to EVs.
- The growth of electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK faces a challenge due to the scarcity of charging points, particularly in areas lacking driveways or off-street parking.
- To address this issue, the UK government recently announced a £63 million investment package to expand EV infrastructure, support households without driveways, and create thousands of public and business depot chargers.
- A £25 million scheme encourages local councils to install cross-pavement EV charging gullies, enabling curbside home charging for drivers without off-street parking, and removing hazards from trailing cables.
- Partnerships between industries, such as Vauxhall’s “Electric Streets of Britain” campaign, collaborate with charging operators to speed up the rollout of on-street residential chargers and create a national database for residents to request local chargers.
- While efforts have been made to improve the EV charging ecosystem in the UK, the slowing rollout rate of public charging points remains a concern, affecting the transition to electric vehicles and the country’s climate targets.
