UK EV charging gap by council: cars per public charger

Where do the most plug-in vehicles share each public charger? This page ranks UK councils by privately kept plug-in cars and vans per public charger. A high figure can point to demand that public charging does not yet meet. It is a first screen for a site, not a forecast of income.

Chargers as at 1 July 2026; vehicles as at 2026 Q2.

Across the ranked councils:13.1privately kept plug-in vehicles per public charger; the middle council has17.8.

Most plug-in vehicles per public charger

Rank	Council	Region	Private plug-in vehicles	Public chargers	Vehicles per charger
1	North East Derbyshire	East Midlands	3,115	40	77.9
2	Castle Point	East of England	2,042	38	53.7
2	Melton	East Midlands	1,826	34	53.7
4	Fareham	South East	3,742	71	52.7
5	Maldon	East of England	2,118	42	50.4
6	Lichfield	West Midlands	4,033	84	48
7	East Hampshire	South East	4,982	109	45.7
8	West Lindsey	East Midlands	3,053	69	44.2
9	Bromley	London	9,836	225	43.7
10	East Renfrewshire	Scotland	3,576	82	43.6
11	Bury	North West	4,447	109	40.8
12	Knowsley	North West	3,667	92	39.9
12	Sevenoaks	South East	4,666	117	39.9
14	Rother	South East	2,519	64	39.4
15	Fenland	East of England	2,195	56	39.2
16	Amber Valley	East Midlands	3,785	98	38.6
17	West Lancashire	North West	3,489	93	37.5
18	St Albans	East of England	6,226	167	37.3
19	Rochford	East of England	2,529	68	37.2
20	East Cambridgeshire	East of England	3,109	84	37
21	Ards and North Down	Northern Ireland	2,988	81	36.9
22	Halton	North West	3,228	88	36.7
23	Kirklees	Yorkshire and the Humber	9,999	274	36.5
24	Hinckley and Bosworth	East Midlands	3,596	99	36.3
25	Basildon	East of England	4,298	120	35.8

Fewest plug-in vehicles per public charger

These councils, mostly city centres, already have dense public networks. A new site there needs a clear reason drivers will stop, such as dwell time or a customer offer.

Rank	Council	Region	Private plug-in vehicles	Public chargers	Vehicles per charger
357	Hammersmith and Fulham	London	3,930	2,603	1.5
356	Hackney	London	2,785	1,701	1.6
355	Tower Hamlets	London	4,472	2,574	1.7
354	Westminster	London	5,225	2,893	1.8
353	Coventry	West Midlands	5,209	2,644	2
352	Southwark	London	4,287	1,945	2.2
351	Waltham Forest	London	4,312	1,855	2.3
349	Islington	London	2,880	861	3.3
349	Dumfries and Galloway	Scotland	2,629	800	3.3
347	Wandsworth	London	6,646	1,795	3.7
347	Gwynedd	Wales	1,723	471	3.7
346	Dundee City	Scotland	2,664	707	3.8
345	Watford	East of England	2,460	603	4.1
342	Pembrokeshire	Wales	2,253	459	4.9
342	Kensington and Chelsea	London	4,498	921	4.9
342	Ipswich	East of England	2,012	413	4.9
341	Blaenau Gwent	Wales	770	155	5
340	Richmond upon Thames	London	6,425	1,263	5.1
338	Highland	Scotland	4,730	918	5.2
338	East Lothian	Scotland	3,570	691	5.2
335	Norwich	East of England	1,543	289	5.3
335	Brent	London	6,842	1,295	5.3
335	Argyll and Bute	Scotland	1,833	347	5.3
333	Portsmouth	South East	2,405	434	5.5
333	Brighton and Hove	South East	4,391	804	5.5

Full council table with chargers per 100,000 people

How the figures are worked out

Vehicles per charger = privately kept plug-in cars and vans (VEH0142, private keepers) ÷ public chargers (EVCI0102). Rank 1 has the most vehicles per charger.
Private keepers are used because lease and fleet companies register large numbers of vehicles at a head office. Counting all keepers would put a few councils, such as Windsor and Maidenhead, far ahead for that reason alone.
Vehicles are counted where the keeper lives, not where they charge. Many drivers with a driveway charge at home, so a high figure in a suburb with off-street parking means less than in an area of terraced streets.
Councils with fewer than 500 privately kept plug-in vehicles are left out, because one charger changes their figure too much.

Left out (too few vehicles): City of London, Isles of Scilly, Na h-Eileanan Siar, Shetland Islands.

Sources

Public electric vehicle chargers by local authority: United Kingdom (EVCI0102), Department for Transport (charger data: Zapmap; population: ONS mid-year estimates) (Open Government Licence v3.0)
Licensed plug-in vehicles (PiVs) by local authority, end of quarter (VEH0142), Department for Transport and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (Open Government Licence v3.0)