According to the latest figures from charge point mapping service Zapmap there are precisely 87,796 charging points across the UK at just over 45,000 locations, though that’s just a snapshot with numbers changing every day as more plugs are installed all over the place. 

That number of almost 90,000 charge points represents a 19% increase on 2024’s number, which is a lot of new plugs. 

The plugs are divided into four categories – slow, fast, rapid and ultra-rapid. Slow chargers are 3–7kW, fast are 8–49kW, rapid are 50–149kW and ultra-rapid chargers are 150kW and over. Though these terms are of course entirely relative depending on the size of your battery and how quick your car will charge. 

How many slow chargers are there?

There are 48,700 slow charging public points in the UK, by far the largest grouping. A lot of the recent expansion in charging provision has been with things like local lamp post chargers and street charging – there are 33,100 street chargers around at the moment says Zapmap.

It should also be noted that this figure only includes public charge points – Zapmap estimates there are over one million home and work plugs in use across the country, where the majority of EV charging actually happens. 

Fast chargers are the next biggest group – there are 21,100 of those knocking around, mainly 11kW and 22kW units from back when Renault was pushing those speeds as the future on the Zoe. 

Those plugs need a three-phase onboard charger, but they’re starting to come back into fashion again, especially on PHEVs with larger batteries. We’re counting those in with the slow chargers despite the name because these are largely what’s known as ‘destination chargers’, where you’re intending to leave the car a while. 

They also all use Type 2 AC plugs rather than the CCS rapid charging devices. 

What about faster chargers? 

There are just over 8,000 rapid chargers and almost 9,900 ultra rapid chargers in the UK at the moment – it’s fascinating that those 150kW-plus units are really forging ahead. In fact those are the fastest growing in percentage terms, up 41% in 2024’s numbers. 

The rapid chargers are mostly 50kW units from back when those were the fastest things around. Which is funny, because they’d hardly make a dent in some of the bigger batteries that carmakers are coming out with these days. But Gridserve recently opened its first 400kW chargers at the end of 2025 and Ionity is known for its network of fast but pricey plugs. 

Talk to me about hubs

This is the exciting charge point revolution of recent years – it used to be you had to track down a solitary 50kW BP Pulse charger round the back of a Harvester, but now providers are building ‘hubs’ of chargers all over the place. 

Zapmap classed these are six or more rapid chargers in a single location, but you’ll find them at service stations, in shopping centre car parks or even in a service station-style setup like Gridserve, Ionity and Shell have been building. 

These hubs are usually near some infrastructure (toilets, shops, cafes, etc) or they have their own infrastructure that you can use while you’re charging. Which saves you having to dip into a book or God forbid make conversation. 

Where are all the chargers? 

If we're talking street chargers, then three quarters of those are in London, though there are a lot of projects ongoing around the country in conjunction with local councils to increase provision for EV drivers who don't have access to home charging. 

The most rapid/ultra-rapid chargers are located in the southeast of the country (2,500), not including the Greater London area which has another 1,500 it's hogging. The biggest growth region was in the northwest of England, with 35% more of them added between 2024 and 2025. 

The majority of charging hubs are located along the UK's 'strategic road network', which basically just means motorways and important A-roads. Which is useful, because that's where you want them to be and queuing for a charger is really annoying.

How much does charging cost? 

According to Zapmap’s figures, it costs an average of 54p per kWh to charge on slow and fast charge points, versus 77p per kWh to charge on rapid and ultra-rapid chargers. 

The slow/fast price showed an increase of 2% year on year, while the rapid/ultra-rapid average was down 4%. 

It’s worth noting that many providers offer discounts for using their apps, or with a monthly subscription (like Be.EV recently launched), but public charging remains a much more expensive option than charging at home on a domestic tariff.