Zap-Map survey reveals EV charging league table

Zap-Map has released its annual public charging network satisfaction rankings, based on the opinions of 3,000 respondents.

This year Zap-Map is awarding a new ‘Best EV Charging Network’ accreditation to the top scorer, and ‘EV Driver Recommended’ badge given to the top three.

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.

This year there are four new entrants to the league table. MFG EV Power is a new network that has installed charging hubs at its network of petrol stations, and has entered the list for the first time in a strong 2nd position. GRIDSERVE Electric Highway is another new network, which has both rolled out its electric forecourt in Braintree and also bought, and is in the process of upgrading, Ecotricity’s network of chargers. GRIDSERVE Electric Highway came joint 5th overall and a noteworthy 1st place for facilities. ubitricity, the on-street charging network, and EV.Charge Online, with its extensive network of destination chargers, while not new networks, made the league table for the first time in position 9th and 13th respectively.

It is also worth highlighting that ChargePlace Scotland – which came in 13th place overall – took 1st place for cost, thanks to many of its extensive network of rapid charge points being free to use. ChargePlace Scotland is also going through a transition period, with a focus on improving the consumer experience.

At the bottom of the table, the legacy Ecotricity Electric Highway points that have not yet been migrated to GRIDSERVE’s new chargers are in last place overall for the second year in a row. Furthermore, bp pulse has this year slipped into the bottom three, where it is also joined by bp pulse owned network Charge Your Car. It is worth noting that not all issues experienced by EV drivers can be attributed directly to the network, as they do not always own the chargers and set the tariffs.

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

See the whole league table here.