THE worst areas in the UK for electric car charging points has been revealed.
Britain’s worst 10 regions have been exposed following analysis of figures from the Department for Transport and ZapMap from July 2023.
Data from the DfT indicates that the Isles of Scilly, off the coast of Cornwall, is the only part of the UK without any public charging devices.
That figure has been disputed by the local councils there, who say the islands have 24 bays available.
On the mainland, Castle Point, a small borough in South Essex which borders Southend-on-Sea, with just three public charging bays but all of those are rapid plugs which can charge up an EV in around 30 minutes.
Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire took third place with only nine charging points and two rapid bays for the entire market town.
Only fairing marginally better is Fenland in East Anglia with just 10 bays, one of which is rapid charging.
The Staffordshire Moorlands district, which is next to the Alton Towers theme park, has a dozen electric charging bays, with just one being rapid.
North Kesteven, a district in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, has 16 devices to serve the region, while The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire doesn’t do much better with just 17.
Coming in with 18 devices is North East Derbyshire and Rutland, near Peterborough.
Merthyr Tydfil, some 20 miles north of Cardiff, Wales, also makes the list with 18 charging devices, with only two of those being rapid devices.
A DfT spokesperson said: “We have invested more than £2billion to support the switch to electric vehicles, and there are now more than 45,000 public charging devices across the UK.
“The number of public charge points rose by 38 per cent over the last year – a rate that puts us well on the way to 300,000 by 2030.”
That picture changes slightly though when comparing charging points per 100,000 people, which could add concerns for EV drivers.
The Merseyside borough of Wirral makes it into the top 10 as the area has 9.7 devices per 100,000 people although has more than 30 bays in total.
Bolton takes fifth place with only 12.2 devices per 100,000 people.
Walsall, Sandwell as well as Ards and North Down make the top 10 with all three regions having 14 plugs or less per 100,000 people.
Toddington Harper, chief executive of Gridserve said it was essential no area got left behind in the move to electric vehicles.
He told Express.co.uk: “The number of EV charging points available is increasing at a faster rate than ever before, and it is important that no towns or regions are left behind.
“Gridserve fully supports all initiatives that will deliver adequate EV charging throughout the UK. Gridserve is also delivering charging infrastructure to serve towns and more rural locations.”
