16:55 Wednesday 29 Jun 2022

Nottingham has come top in a listing of UK towns and cities with the most rapid and ultra-rapid electric vehicle charging points.

The analysis by Admiral and Zap-Map found it had 122 rapid and ultra-rapid chargers at the end of April (92 rapid chargers and 30 ultra-rapid chargers).

Milton Keynes was second in the league table with 100 rapid charges and six ultra-rapid chargers. A separate study recently found it had the highest number of charging points per 100,000 people.

Rapid chargers take between 20 minutes to an hour to add around 100 miles of charge and are found at many different locations from motorway service areas and fuel forecourts to restaurants, hotels and retail car parks.

Ultra-rapid devices can add about 100 miles of charge in around 15 minutes, which is useful for drivers who are undertaking longer journeys. They tend to be found in groups of between six and 10.

Birmingham was the city with the most ultra-rapid chargers at 39.

Coventry also featured in the top five locations for rapid and ultra-rapid charger, making the Midlands a hotspot for charging your electric car as quickly as possible.

Melanie Shufflebotham, Co-founder & COO at Zap-Map, said: “As the number of pure-electric cars on the road approaches half a million, a robust charging network is critical. Over the past few years there has been huge investment in high-powered chargers and it's great to see many cities across the UK having a strong provision.

“There are, of course, a range of different needs when it comes to charging an EV, but continued investment in high-powered chargers for longer journeys is crucial as the number of EVs on the road continues to grow at pace. Nottingham may well be leading the charge in this area right now, but it will certainly be interesting to see which city takes the top spot in two years’ time.”