Over 100 high-speed charging hubs opened their doors to UK electric vehicle drivers in 2022, helping to boost the number of ultra-rapid charge points almost 80%.

Last year saw 106 new high-speed charging hubs open

That’s according to new year-end charge point figures from Zap-Map, which also reveal growth in the West Midlands and the accelerating provision of on-street chargers.

Zap-Map’s data shows that the number of ultra-rapid charge points – vital for topping up en-route – increased to 2,295 as of the end of December, from 1,290 at the end of 2021.

The growth is largely due to networks such as MFG EV Power, Osprey and Gridserve Electric Highway, which are rolling out high-speed charging ‘hubs’ of around six devices across the country. Across last year, 106 new high-speed charging hubs – providing four or more rapid/ultra-rapid devices – opened, increasing the number of such hubs by 56% to 295 locations from 189.

Breaking this down further, at the end of 2021 there were 89 high-speed charging hubs with seven or more devices. This figure increased to 128 by the end of 2022, an increase of 44%.

The growth comes as new SMMT figures show registrations of fully electric cars rose 40% last year to more than 267,000 units – and indicates that ultra-rapid charging rollout is more than keeping pace with the rise.

The overall charging network also saw strong growth, although it was outpaced by EV take-up. At the end of December 2022, there were 37,261 electric vehicle charging points across the UK, across 22,049 charging locations – up 31% increase. The 8,800+ net new chargers also mark a new record for the highest number of UK charge points ever installed within a year.

While Zap-Map welcomed the overall rise, it said conversations on the subject should look at the different types of charging available, what they’re useful for, and which ones are needed where.

This includes on-street charging infrastructure, generally used by drivers unable to charge at home.

2022 saw significant growth in this area, with the number of on-street charging devices increasing by 36% – up to 12,009 devices from 8,842 at the end of 2021.

Although London and the South East retained the top spots in terms of the highest number of charging points, it was actually the West Midlands that saw the most significant rate of growth last year. The total number of chargers in the region grew by 52% over the course of the year, increasing from 1,854 devices to 2,816.

Of this figure, 223 were ultra-rapid devices, with 419 rapid, 1,789 fast, and 385 slow devices at the end of December.

Wales also saw significant growth, with 1,039 devices operational at the end of 2021, and 1,473 by the end of December – an increase of 42%.

Despite this, Greater London saw the highest overall number of devices installed in 2022, increasing from 9,160 devices at the end of 2021 to 11559 at the end of December – an increase of 26%.

Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and COO at Zap-Map, said: “There are areas we need to see improvements — there’s still a London and South-East bias, especially for slow on-street charging, and reliability remains the top concern for EV drivers. The rollout of rapid and ultra-rapid chargers has been moving at pace and this needs to continue through 2023, because they are crucial for topping up en-route.

“Despite the challenges of rising energy prices and supply chain shortages, it’s been another big year for electrifying transport. Hopefully 2023 will beat the records again.”