The latest figures on electric vehicle (EV) charging devices and sales of new plug-in vehicles – from Zap-Map and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) respectively – show an almost 6% increase in the number of ultra-rapid chargers last month, while new plug-in vehicle registrations accounted for more than a fifth of overall vehicle sales.
Indeed, the number of ultra-rapid charging devices in the UK grew by over 5.5% in January alone. These 100kW+ devices, which tend to be found in groups or charging ‘hubs’ of between four and eight, can add more or less 80 miles of charge in around 10 minutes. As of the end of January, there were 1,360 ultra-rapid devices across the UK, according to the Zap-Map database.
The growth in ultra-rapid charging devices last month continues a trend set in 2021, which saw the rise of the EV charging hub. Such hubs are prime examples of ‘en route’ charging, when you want to charge your car as quickly as possible. They tend to be ultra-rapid devices (100kW+), and operators such as GRIDSERVE Electric Highway, InstaVolt, MFG EV Power and Osprey opened a number of charging hubs last year, with many more scheduled to open in 2022. Last year, the number of ultra-rapid charging devices in the UK grew by 65%.
What’s more, figures from the SMMT show that plug-in vehicles comprised over 20% of overall vehicle sales last month, with battery-electric vehicles (BEV) accounting for 12.5% of all new car registrations.
See the Zap-Map graph below for the number of new plug-in registrations by month over the the past 13 months.
January 2022 saw a total of 23,480 new plug-in vehicle registrations, comprising 14,433 BEVs and 9,047 PHEVs. This takes the cumulative total of plug-in vehicles on UK roads – as of the end of January 2022 – to over 760,000. That total comprises around 410,000 BEVs and 355,000 PHEVs.
Last year, in 2021, there were more than 190,000 sales of BEVs in the UK, with over 114,000 sales of PHEVs. With January typically expected to be a ‘quieter’ month for plug-ins, BEVs and PHEVs still took a fifth of market share last month, indicating the upwards trend in sales looks set to continue in 2022.
Last month’s sales saw plug-in vehicles’ market share come down from December’s high of over 33%, with BEVs and PHEVs accounting for 20.4% of overall vehicle sales. This means that plug-in vehicles currently represent 20.4% of market share in 2022, with BEVs at 12.5% and PHEVs at 7.9%.
While no electric vehicle entered the top ten bestsellers last month, important steps forward are being made in terms of the UK’s EV charging infrastructure.
Not only does MFG plan to open a further 60 EV charging hubs this year, but Shell has also opened its first dedicated EV charging hub in the UK, and Osprey recently announced a major partnership with Ediston to deliver EV charging to customers visiting major retail brands such as Aldi, The Food Warehouse and Costa.
In terms of paying for charging, national charging network GeniePoint is about to go live on Zap-Pay, with MFG EV Power following hot on its heels.
