Now there are more EV charging points than petrol stations in the UK

Some drivers would have been put off buying an electric vehicle (EV) in the past over worries of where to refuel. With the range of the early versions of these cars somewhat limited and charging points few and far between, purchasing an EV was seen as a risk for anyone who lived outside of a major city.

New data released by Zap-Map has revealed the exponential rise in the number of EV charging sites around the UK. As of the 22nd May 2019, there were a total of 8,471 charging locations in Britain, with a collective total of 13,613 charging devices between then.

In contrast, the UK has only 8,400 petrol stations. As more secondary filling stations close down, giving way to larger sites and supermarket facilities, it’s likely this number will continue to decline over the coming years.

The growth of EV charging points has been rapid. In just the past year, the number of sites has increased by 57%. As a result, driving an electric car is becoming far more attractive, a notion that’s supported by the increase we’ve seen in these vehicles on the roads. Six years ago, there were around 3,500; today, there are more than 210,000.

Tonik have released a case study of how one of their trial homes benefitted from the Tesla Powerwall.This demonstrated clearly the issue many homeowners with photovoltaicinstallations are facing.

The test client was generating around 25 –30kWh of energy during the day, but the home was only consuming around 12.5kWhduring production periods. As such, they failed to benefit from a largeproportion of the generated energy, and were left buying electricity from thegrid in the evening.

Adding a 13.5kWh Tesla Powerwall to theirhome changed things significantly. As a result, stored energy could be usedduring the evenings and early morning when the PV panels were not generatingenergy.

The result was quite amazing; thehouseholder bought next to no energy from the grid, importing just 18kWh over afive month period, compared to 1,619kWh before the Powerwall was installed.

With the rise in the EV charging points across the UK has come a change in technology too. Gone are the days of waiting hours for a car battery to charge, with the standard rapid charger (50kW) now juicing up a vehicle in around 40 minutes.

But there’s now a rollout of even faster chargers starting, with the first 350kW chargers being installed around the country. These will see vehicles fully recharged in as little as 10 minutes, making a fuel stop much more akin to what petrol and diesel drivers are used to.

The first 350kW charging station opened in Maidstone, Kent on 22nd May. More are planned for Buckinghamshire, Scotland and various other locations around the UK. The 350kW system is developed by IONITY in partnership with Octopus Energy , offering 100% renewable supply.

The rise of EV ownership is presenting a welcome opportunity for independent energy suppliers to develop their own EV charging tariffs. Although specific EV tariffs are designed for home charging, there are also opportunities open for energy supply companies to think about how tariffs could be developed that support cheaper charging on the go too.