Revealed: The best and worst towns to find an EV charger in the UK

The best town to charge an electric car has been revealed as Coventry and the worst is Castle Point, South Essex. This is according to a new analysis of recently published Government data by Bonnet, an award-winning EV charging app that provides live updates from more than 200,000 EV chargers across 40 EV charging networks in Europe

Using the latest statistics published by the Department for Transport, Bonnet has ranked the best and worst towns in the UK for public charging based on how many charging points there are per 100,000 people.

Top areas, according to the new data, included York, Dundee, and Brighton – which had the most chargers for people. In part due to its small population and dedicated Electric Vehicle Strategy, the Orkney Islands continues to have the third most chargers per person in the UK.

Locations with the least number of chargers per 100,000 people included Bury, Bolton, and regions in Northern Ireland.

Compared to 1 July 2023, the latest EV statistics reveal that the number of points has increased by 5,200, or 12%. The Government has previously suggested that 300,000 public EV chargers will be needed by 2030, though it recently pushed back the date for all new cars to be electric to 2035.

Best 15 Regions and Towns for EV charging Oct-23

• Coventry, England 383.9 (charge points per 100,000 people)
• Watford, England 246.0
• Orkney Islands, Scotland 230.7
• London (Inner and Outer), England 192.8
• Na h-Eileanan Siar (Outer Hebrides), Scotland 180.2
• Milton Keynes, England 178.7
• Stirling, Scotland 176.5
• East Lothian, Scotland 176.1
• Ceredigion, Wales 175.5
• Brighton and Hove, England 156.3
• Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland 155.9
• Shetland Islands, Scotland 152.6
• Welwyn Hatfield, England 152.3
• Pembrokeshire, Wales 148.8
• Solihull, England 147.7

Worst 15 Regions and Towns for EV charging Oct-23

• Castle Point, England 3.3  (charge points per 100,000 people)
• Wirral, England 9.7
• Fenland, England 10.7
• Staffordshire Moorlands, England 12.5
• Bury, England 13.9
• Sandwell, England 14.0
• Walsall, England 14.1
• Tameside, England 14.3
• Sefton, England 14.3
• North Kesteven, England 14.3
• Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland 14.6
• Bolton, England 15.2
• Lisburn and Castlereagh, Northern Ireland 15.4
• Neath Port Talbot, Wales 15.5
• Dacorum, England 16.1

Patrick Reich, CEO and co-founder of Bonnet, said of the analysis: ‘There are now hundreds of thousands of people driving electric vehicles, and we know that while many have driveways with home chargers, access to public charging is supremely important for people travelling around the UK.

‘This analysis highlights the great work that has been done over the past year by networks to install more chargers, especially in and around towns. There’s still a long way to go to make sure everyone has access to reliable public chargers no matter where they are, but these results show we’re well on the road.’