Want to learn where you can charge your electric (EV) or plug-in vehicle? Check out this guide to find your local EV charging station.
Did you know, that at the time of writing this article, there are over 42,000 charge point connectors in the UK in over 15,500 locations? So if you're reading this, you're probably wondering where your nearest charging station is and whether it's free, pay per charge or subscription-based where you pay monthly.
There are thousands of free charging points across the UK. Many of them can be found in places like supermarkets, car parks, shopping centres and service stations. With the free charging stations, there are often conditions to using them, such as limited-time restrictions or requiring you to go into the store to purchase something. So make sure you check any signage beforehand.
Most free chargers will come at charging speeds of 7kW up to 22kW. Anything above 50kW will cost you, on average you could be looking at around 28p p/kWh.
There are several websites and apps now with charging station maps. You simply enter a postcode and they will show you the nearest charging station. The map site we particularly like is Zap-Map.com which is simple and easy to use. You can also download the Zap-Map app for Apple iPhones and Android phones.
With Zap-Map you can filter by location, by types such as car parks or supermarkets and whether or not a charge point is free to use.
However, as we previously mentioned there are several websites at this point that feature up-to-date maps. So if you don't like Zap-map you can always throw "EV charging station near me" into Google.
This is entirely dependent on the size of the battery your EV has and the maximum capacity of charging it can take at a time:
Most free charging points will have at least a 7kW charge point, with plenty offering a 22kW faster charge point. Wondering how long each one takes on average from 10% to 100%?
Zap-Map has a public charging calculator which lets you pick what EV you have, the cost of the charge point and how long it will take to charge your EV.