UK — Charger companies installed 5,100 public charge points in the UK during the first half of 2026, bringing the total to 121,171 by June 30. This represents a 10% increase compared to the same period in the previous year.

Growth rates for public charge point installations were above 40% in 2024. The number of electric vehicles on British roads exceeded 2 million in April 2026. The UK government has set a target of 300,000 public chargers by 2030. The zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate was introduced by the Conservative government in 2023.

Jarrod Birch, Head of policy and public affairs at ChargeUK, said: "The public charging network has doubled over the past three years, and rapid charging is growing quickest of all, with nine in 10 built outside of London in the past 12 months." Ultra-rapid chargers, which deliver more than 150 kilowatts of power, saw a 37% increase year over year in the first half of 2026. Melanie Shufflebotham, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at Zapmap, said: "The installations in the first half of 2026 still represented a steady rollout overall, with high growth in the ultra-rapid segment."

Birch said: "It is a British success story, funded by private investment made on the certainty of future customers that the government's ZEV mandate provides." He added: "But the mandate has now been argued over for three years, under two governments," and stated: "It is no surprise that investors are hesitating as doubt surrounds the policy once again."

Shufflebotham said: "The Levi funding has seen an increased number of tenders awarded, and these – generally on-street chargers – have started to be rolled out locally." She added: "This, alongside the uplift in councils supporting through-pavement charging, and an increase in local charging at supermarkets, car parks and fuel forecourts, will encourage more and more drivers to go electric."