Scotland has highest level of rapid charge point provision

Scotland has the highest level of rapid charge point provision in the UK, according to the DfT’s quarterly EV charging device report.

Scotland has 8.9 rapid charging points per 100,000 of population, with the second highest being the South East with 5.8. London meanwhile has 4.9 by comparison.

London however has the highest level of charging device provision per 100,000 of population, at 57 devices.

Other findings show that at 1 July 2020, there were 18,265 public electric vehicle charging devices available in the UK. Of these, 3,206 were rapid devices.

Since 2015, the number of public charging devices has grown by nearly five times to July 2020, with an 11% increase in the year to date.

Rapid charging devices have also grown quickly, increasing by 363% since 2015.

Despite Scotland having an above average number of charging devices per 100,000 of the population, the number of devices available actually decreased by 130 to 1,910 in Q2. The DfT said this is because of the lockdown where charging devices were switched-of due to the sites being inaccessible.

The report says there is uneven geographical distribution of charging devices within the UK. Some UK local authorities have bid for UK Government funding for charging devices, and others have not. Most of the provision of this infrastructure has been market-led, with individual charging networks and other businesses (such as hotels) choosing where to install devices.