Rapid EV Chargers – The UK Needs You!

New to the Dodona Blog, CPO Account Exec Alex Moffett takes a look at the state of the UK’s charging infrastructure for electric vehicles – and discovers that while the numbers are looking good, one key ingredient seems to be missing.

It’s good news - the owners of electric vehicles (EVs) are benefitting from a steady rise in charging points becoming available in the UK. And for those working to get these chargers in the ground, it is an excellent indicator of a growing industry busy establishing itself in the day-to-day of UK life.

But while we are seeing increases in charging opportunities month on month, there is still an important blind spot in the UK’s charging infrastructure - the rapid charger.

Offering an 80% charge within 30 minutes, the rapid charger is an essential ingredient in the charging mix. So, while it is good news that numbers of available charge points in the UK are rising month on month, for those looking to get these chargers into the ground, the figures reveal even better news.

With slow chargers representing the bulk of the charging infrastructure, they are unlikely to meet the needs of all EV drivers. For CPOs, the very real dearth of high-speed chargers in the UK is a huge business opportunity.

And what is more, rapid EV charge points offer CPOs the highest return on investment of all charge point types. For CPOs looking to expand their operations, the UK’s specific need for more high speed chargers is a well begging to be pulled from.

But there is another, quieter disparity within the UK’s spread of existing charge points. No prizes for guessing, but the majority of charge points are to be found in London and the Greater London areas, with 21,604 charging points available. In sharp contrast, the whole of the South East of England has only 8,391 charging points and Scotland boasts a mere 5,903.  Northern Ireland has only 29 devices per 100,000 people – that’s 1,400 in total.

The fact that there are such extreme differences in the distribution of EV chargers across the UK, adds another aspect to the picture. The charging infrastructure is a long way off maturing in a meaningful way, to serve all EV drivers and, in turn, to encourage more drivers into making their next car purchase an all-electric one.

Of course, this should not be taken to mean that a CPO will be successful if they decide to suddenly pepper the North of England with rapid chargers. They of course still need to analyse exactly which locations show promise for a profitable and well-utilised high-speed charge point. This kind of analysis can be heavy going, as many data sources must be pulled from and their information studied and compared.

The industry is also responding to this issue with data analysis solutions - and Dodona e-mobility is a leading platform among them - getting CPOs results in a matter of minutes.