Newly published Zapmap ratings have revealed the UK’s best destination and on-street public charging networks in the UK – with Mer taking the top spot.

It’s the first time that Zapmap has produced two sets of network rankings, recognising the different approaches of lower-powered destination or on-street charging networks compared to rapid or en-route charging specialists

The survey is based on responses from more than 4,000 electric car drivers across the UK and marks the first time that Zapmap has produced two sets of network rankings, recognising the different approaches of operators mainly focused on lower-powered destination or on-street charging, and those predominantly supporting rapid or en-route charging.

As with the rankings for en-route charging providers announced last week, the results for destination’ and on-street public charging networks are based on users’ overall satisfaction and their experiences in five key areas: reliability, ease of use, customer support, value for money, and payment options.

First-placed Mer scored highly for the reliability and ease of use of its charging network, and secures this year’s ‘Best EV Charging Network’ badge.

It was followed by Ubitricity and Connected Kerb in joint second place; both networks are focused on rolling out low-powered, on-street devices for overnight charging. The two networks earn ‘EV Driver Recommended’ titles for the 2023-24 rankings.

Mer secures this year’s ‘Best EV Charging Network’ badge

While each network must have more than 100 charging devices to be included – at least 80% of which must not be rapid or ultra-rapid devices – and a minimum of 50 responses in the survey, Zapmap has also added a new ‘Up and Coming Network’ category.

This recognises those networks that don’t have the requisite number of responses from EV drivers in the survey, but whose performance would have put them near the top of the table.

Taking the lead in ‘Up and Coming Network’ among this year’s destination and on-street rankings is Raw Charging, which already has over 75 charging locations and 215 devices across the UK, most of them 7-22kW devices.

Zapmap’s rankings provide a real-world illustration of driver experiences with charging networks and their views on which are dependable.

Jade Edwards, head of insights at Zapmap, said: “These destination and on-street network rankings provide clarity on how the UK’s medium- and low-powered charging infrastructure is developing, and this is particularly important given the greater proportion of new electric car drivers who are not able to charge at home.

“What’s more, our latest survey shows that the reliability and ease of use of the UK’s destination and on-street charging networks are two key determinants of the level of driver satisfaction across the country. These two aspects should be key priorities for all the UK’s public charging networks.”