How is the Public Charging Network Developing?

Holiday season normally sees reports of queues at public rapid chargers, and it’s fair to point out that queues may be attributed to the uptake in EVs at a faster pace than chargers can be deployed.
ZapMap, the UK’s leading charge point mapping and data gathering service, crunches the numbers so we can see how the rollout of a public charging infrastructure is going.

Electric car chargers, Downham Market

The headline figures show that by the end of last year 14,097 new charging points were installed adding to the infrastructure that had 87,796 chargers (as of 31 December 2025) covering 45,033 locations.

This represent a year-on-year growth of 19%, according to ZapMap, with 150kW and above ultra-rapid chargers seeing the highest growth at 41% since December 2024.
These chargers make for short stops en route in almost all electric cars, and competitively priced chargers are key to EV adoption.

Charging hubs (defined as 6 or more rapid or ultra-rapid chargers) increased 39% over the last year to 748 hubs in the U.K.

Tesla Superchargers St. Albans

And with sales of new electric cars up from 19% market share to 23% market share in 2025 - a 25% growth rate - the charging network has to accelerate to keep up with demand.

Stats in from January 2026 show a growth of 40% in rapid and ultra-rapid chargers compared to January 2025.

If the deployment continues at a similar pace, there should be fewer queues at the services when ferrying the family to their holiday destination. But it’s also worth noting that hubs can also be found off the beaten track, such as the Tesla Superchargers at St. Albans above, just a mile or so from the A1(M).

So, who are the leaders in the rapid charging network by sheer numbers?

It’s almost neck and neck between two giants; Instavolt has 2,178 devices and Tesla Superchargers has 2,167 devices, both representing 12% market share each. Third place is Osprey with 1,429 devices representing 7.9% market share.

2026 should see further growth in the public charging network as it continues to expand at a considerable pace, which should alleviate any fears of running out of electrons, or waiting in long queues to charge the car.

To find out more about what zapmap does head over to: zapmap.com

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About the Author

Graeme Cobb is a lifelong car enthusiast with a passion for writing about cars, EVs, industry updates and more. You can find Graeme on 𝕏 at @graeme_cobb or YouTube @REV-EV.