The UK’s electric vehicle charging network continues to expand, with new figures showing 3,028 public chargers were added in the first three months of 2026, bringing the national total to 119,080 across 46,107 locations.
The data, published this week by chargepoint mapping service Zapmap, represents a 13 percent year-on-year increase in quarterly installations, a welcome rebound after 2025 saw a dip in new additions. Growth has been strongest in the ultra-rapid category, chargers delivering 150kW or above, which now number 12,921 across the country, up 39 percent on the same point last year.
The expansion coincides with a government push to cut the cost and complexity of deploying public chargers. Through amendments to the Traffic Management Permit Scheme and provisions in the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025, charge point operators will no longer need to apply for section 50 licences.
Instead, they can use the simpler street works permit process via Street Manager, the digital platform already used by highway authorities and utility companies in England. The government says the change will bring permit costs down from as much as £1,000 to as little as £45 and reduce wait times from months to days.
However, he cautioned that significant barriers remain, pointing to energy costs, surging standing charges, and a VAT disparity between public and home charging as issues the government still needs to address.
Zapmap’s figures also highlight progress on charging hubs, with 1,037 now operational following 46 new openings in the first quarter.
Each hub averages 12 chargers, with the proportion of ultra-rapid units steadily climbing. Meanwhile, the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure programme, designed to bring charging to areas outside London, continues to gain traction after its first installations in Brighton and Suffolk.
The infrastructure push comes at a critical moment for UK EV adoption. Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show that more than 80,000 new battery electric vehicles were registered in March alone, a record that puts BEV sales just below petrol for the first time.
With the government’s ZEV mandate requiring manufacturers to sell rising proportions of zero-emission vehicles each year, the pressure to build charging capacity to match is only intensifying.
Sources: Zapmap, UK Gov.
