Half of highway services now have six or more ultra-fast EV chargers, as rollout increases this year

Since the start of this year, 200 ultra-fast EV chargers of 150 kW+ have been installed on motorway services in England, new research shows.

As a result, almost half of England’s motorway services now have six or more ultra-fast chargers, Zapmap and the RAC have discovered.

These 150 kW chargers can reach a range of 160 km in 15 minutes and have been installed on motorway services to quickly charge the battery during long journeys.

The number of 150 kW chargers has increased by 51 percent in the past eight months, as installation numbers continue to accelerate.

This means that almost half (48 percent or 55 locations) of England’s 114 motorway services now have six or more 150 kW+ chargers, with many locations offering higher speeds of up to 350 kW.

Six highway locations are equipped with more than twelve 150 kW+ chargers, while only four locations do not have high-powered chargers above 50 kW.

Britain’s estimated 1.17 million electric motorists can now charge in minutes using 595 of these chargers.

Ultra-fast chargers have grown particularly quickly, with more than 2,300 installed this year. At the end of September 2024 there will be 60% more ultra-fast chargers than in December 2023

How does this process relate to government objectives?

As of September 2024, Zapmap estimates the number of fast or ultra-fast chargers at 13,706 across 5,762 charging locations in the UK.

Fast chargers are from 50 kW to 149 kW and ultra-fast charging points from 150 kW+.

In 2022, the previous government set the very ambitious target of having six or more powerful 50 kW+ chargers at every motorway service point in England by the end of 2023.

The most recent data shows that this target has not been achieved, with only 54 percent (61 locations) having this threshold for chargers.

However, the direction of the charging rollout has changed slightly, with the charging industry instead providing ultra-fast 150kW chargers: almost two-thirds (64 percent or 73 locations) of all motorway services in England have at least one 150kW+ charger.

Overall, the number of fast and ultra-fast chargers has grown from 3,871 at the end of 2020, to 10,118 at the end of 2023 and more than 13,000 by September 2024 – a 36 percent increase in the number of devices since December 2023.

But ultra-fast chargers have grown particularly quickly, with more than 2,300 installed this year.

At the end of September 2024, there will be 60 percent more ultra-fast chargers than in December 2023.

Which petrol stations have the best charging offer?

There are now six well-located motorway services with more than a dozen 150kW+ units; Reading, M4 east and west, Cobham M25, Exeter M5, Gloucester M5 north and Frankley M5 south.

The two services with the most 150kW+ chargers are Frankley on the M5 southbound, which has 28 ultra-fast chargers, and Reading on the M4 westbound, which has 25 ultra-fast chargers.

And many locations also have additional Tesla chargers, with Tesla recently opening up its Supercharger network to non-Tesla cars with subscriptions.

Tesla Superchargers charge up to 250 kW and can travel up to 200 miles in just 15 minutes.

Approximately 42 Supercharger locations with a total of 477 chargers are open to all CCS-compatible electric vehicles, and this will only increase in the near future

Each highway service has an average of seven 50 kW+ chargers, meaning a total of 818 at 114 locations.

Looking just at ultra-fast chargers, there are an average of five on every service in England (595 across 114 locations).

Only four petrol stations currently do not have a charging facility above 50 kW.

Two of these, Leicester Forest East M1 northbound and southbound, are managed by Welcome Break, who told the RAC and Zapmap there are problems bringing sufficient power to the sites.

The company is working with National Grid Electricity Distribution, National Highways and local authorities to find a solution to this and hopes to install ultra-fast chargers next year.

The other two other locations without fast charging points – Sedgemoor M5 northbound and Telford M54 – are still waiting for strong connections to the electricity grid.

Gridserve, the charging point operator that manages the national Electric Highway network across highway services, confirmed it hopes to start installing chargers in Sedgemoor in 2025.

Which EVs can charge with 350 kW?

The Audi Q6 e-Tron, the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the Tesla Model 3 all charge above 250 kW.

The new Porsche Taycan and the Audi e-Tron GT can both charge up to 320 kW, but the only EV that can currently charge at 350 kW is the Lotus Eletre.

The Eletre can be charged from 10 to 80 percent in 20 minutes and has a range of 600 kilometers.