UK electric car charging points: Nottingham tops list of 20 cities with the fastest EV chargers

Nottingham is the UK city best-equipped for fast electric car charging, according to new figures released by Admiral Car Insurance and Zap-Map – one of the UK’s most reliable electric vehicle (EV) charge point mapping services.

With the most rapid and ultra-rapid UK electric car charging points – 92 and 30, respectively – Nottingham is the best-served place for the two fastest types of charging points.

In fact, the Midlands was identified as an electric car charging hotspot with Birmingham and Coventry coming in the top five too.

The top 20 UK cities best-equipped for the fastest EV charging:

Town	Rapid	Ultra-Rapid	Grand Total
Nottingham	92	30	122
Milton Keynes	100	6	106
Leeds	60	17	77
Birmingham	34	39	73
Coventry	71		71
Bristol	45	23	68
Manchester	36	26	62
Sheffield	48	9	57
Glasgow	46	6	52
Wolverhampton	26	23	49
Norwich	20	28	48
Dundee	36	8	44
Bradford	39	0	39
Exeter	10	27	37
Slough	7	29	36
Derby	20	14	34
Cardiff	24	10	34
Banbury	5	29	34
Preston	31	2	33
Newcastle upon Tyne	31	2	33

With over 480,000 pure-electric cars now on UK roads, plus over 390,000 plug-in hybrids, public attention is increasingly turning to the UK electric car charging point infrastructure.

Melanie Shufflebotham, Co-founder & COO at Zap-Map, said: “As the number of pure-electric cars on the road approaches half a million, a robust charging network is critical. Over the past few years there has been huge investment in high-powered chargers and it’s great to see many cities across the UK having a strong provision.

“There are of course a range of different needs when it comes to charging an EV, but continued investment in high-powered chargers for longer journeys is crucial as the number of EVs on the road continues to grow at pace,” she continued. “Nottingham may well be leading the charge in this area right now, but it will certainly be interesting to see which city takes the top spot in two years’ time.”

Unlike combustion engine cars, EVs can recharge almost anywhere – at home, at work and on the public network. With extra flexibility for EVs comes a little added complexity, such as different speeds of chargers and, therefore, different uses for them.

EV drivers charging at home, for instance, typically use what are known as ‘slow’ or ‘fast’ devices to charge up overnight. In contrast, rapid chargers take between 20 minutes to an hour to add around 100 miles of charge – and are found at many different locations from motorway service stations to restaurants, supermarkets, hotels, and retail car parks.

Even speedier are ultra-rapid devices, which can add up to 100 miles of charge in around 15 minutes. Useful for drivers undertaking longer journeys, they tend to be found in groups of between six and ten. The analysis saw Birmingham come out on top in this respect, with 39 high-powered ultra-rapid chargers.

As the 2030 ban on petrol and diesel cars draws near, and the number of EV owners continues to rise, Admiral’s own data shows the growing popularity of electric vehicles, with drivers insuring 79 per cent more pure-electric vehicles (and 20 per cent more hybrid vehicles) in 2022 compared with 2021.

More recently, the UK government has withdrawn the plug-in car grant to prioritise charging infrastructure where chargers are needed most. This is inline with the growth of rapid and ultra-rapid chargers nationwide from 973 at the end of 2016 to 5,750 at the end of April 2022 – more than a 490 per cent increase.

Particularly important for EV drivers undertaking longer journeys is the increase in the number of ultra-rapid devices over the past year. Between April 2021 and April 2022, the UK has seen a 74 per cent increase in the number of ultra-rapid devices, the quickest available.

Clare Egan, Head of Motor Product at Admiral, said: “The 2030 ban on petrol and diesel cars is fast approaching. As Admiral’s own insurance data shows, electric cars are only growing in popularity so public attention should increasingly turn to the UK’s EV charging network.

“While most EVs will charge overnight at home, many people driving longer distances will need to charge up as quickly as possible,” she continued. “That’s why we’ve teamed up with Zap-Map to find the speediest cities to charge your car.”