UK’s Electric Vehicle Charger Rollout Slows Sharply Amid Investment and Policy Concerns
Growth in public charging infrastructure loses momentum even as EV sales rise and government pushes energy transition
The expansion of public electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the United Kingdom slowed markedly in 2025, raising questions about the pace of support for the country’s broader transition to zero-emission motoring.
According to industry data, only around thirteen thousand five hundred new public charge points were added through November 2025, representing the slowest annual increase since 2022 and significantly below earlier expectations for this stage of the electric vehicle transition.
The total public network stands at roughly eighty-seven thousand chargers, an increase of less than twenty per cent on the previous year, even as battery-electric vehicles accounted for nearly a quarter of new car sales in 2025.
Industry representatives and analysts attribute the slowdown to a combination of higher operational costs for charge point operators, delays in grid connections and enduring regional disparities that leave some areas much less well served than others.
Grid connection bottlenecks in particular have emerged as a persistent concern, with planning and legal processes varying by region and adding months to deployment timelines.
Variations in charger density are acute: some parts of Northern Ireland, for example, have fewer than forty public chargers per one hundred thousand people compared with over three hundred in London.
The slowdown has also coincided with wider uncertainty in policy and investment signals.
Discussions around changes to electric vehicle sales mandates — including proposals to weaken zero-emission vehicle requirements and the introduction of a three-pence-per-mile tax on EV use from 2028 — have unsettled investor confidence in charging infrastructure projects.
This uncertainty is reflected in industry surveys showing that many charge point operators lack confidence that their current hardware and business models are robust enough to meet future demand without clearer long-term commitments.
Government and industry players alike acknowledge both the achievements to date and the challenges ahead.
The Department for Transport has underscored record increases in total chargepoint numbers and emphasised ongoing investment of billions of pounds to support EV infrastructure and meet future needs.
At the same time, operators and advocacy groups are calling for streamlined planning and grid processes, incentives to encourage deployment in underserved regions and stronger policy certainty to sustain investment through to the 2030 target for widespread electric vehicle adoption.
According to industry data, only around thirteen thousand five hundred new public charge points were added through November 2025, representing the slowest annual increase since 2022 and significantly below earlier expectations for this stage of the electric vehicle transition.
The total public network stands at roughly eighty-seven thousand chargers, an increase of less than twenty per cent on the previous year, even as battery-electric vehicles accounted for nearly a quarter of new car sales in 2025.
Industry representatives and analysts attribute the slowdown to a combination of higher operational costs for charge point operators, delays in grid connections and enduring regional disparities that leave some areas much less well served than others.
Grid connection bottlenecks in particular have emerged as a persistent concern, with planning and legal processes varying by region and adding months to deployment timelines.
Variations in charger density are acute: some parts of Northern Ireland, for example, have fewer than forty public chargers per one hundred thousand people compared with over three hundred in London.
The slowdown has also coincided with wider uncertainty in policy and investment signals.
Discussions around changes to electric vehicle sales mandates — including proposals to weaken zero-emission vehicle requirements and the introduction of a three-pence-per-mile tax on EV use from 2028 — have unsettled investor confidence in charging infrastructure projects.
This uncertainty is reflected in industry surveys showing that many charge point operators lack confidence that their current hardware and business models are robust enough to meet future demand without clearer long-term commitments.
Government and industry players alike acknowledge both the achievements to date and the challenges ahead.
The Department for Transport has underscored record increases in total chargepoint numbers and emphasised ongoing investment of billions of pounds to support EV infrastructure and meet future needs.
At the same time, operators and advocacy groups are calling for streamlined planning and grid processes, incentives to encourage deployment in underserved regions and stronger policy certainty to sustain investment through to the 2030 target for widespread electric vehicle adoption.
