New report sheds light on public EV charging usage

The Green Finance Institute and Zapmap have produced a pioneering report that offers a deep dive into the utilisation of the country’s electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.

The new report shows how utilisation of charging has changed over time and provides two effective ways to measure, understand and act upon utilisation rates.

It has recorded the exact time-based utilisation of charge points as well as the estimated energy-based utilisation of charge points, revealing how they differ and vary across regions.

For example it found that time-based utilisation did not vary much from the final quarter of 2021 and 2022, although the utilisation of ultra-rapid chargers rose from 12% to more than 16%.

Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and COO at Zapmap, said: “It’s great to see these utilisation figures coming into the public domain because they can really help us move the conversation on from simply talking about the number of charge points to looking more closely at charging behaviour and patterns on different types of chargers. This in turn can help to inform local authorities and investment, ensuring the right charging provision is installed in the right places.

“As ever, new analysis often raises more questions than it answers. But one clear trend that both measures highlight is the increasing utilisation of ultra-rapid charge points, and an expectation that this will continue as more vehicles enter the market with improved charging capabilities.”

Lauren Pamma, director for transport programmes at the Green Finance Institute, said: “The data in this white paper is the start to providing financiers with the information and clarity they need to understand utilisation, and therefore reduce the risk in financing the infrastructure underpinning the EV transition. Zapmap’s data has the potential to enable innovative financing mechanisms such as utilisation-linked loans, which the Green Finance Institute has been developing, to be realised.”