Public Charging | EVA England : EVA England

Most EV owners charge their cars through chargepoints installed at home or at workplace locations, which are estimated to be more than 680,000, but that’s not always possible.

Thankfully, there is an ever-expanding public charging infrastructure.

According to Zapmap, as of the end of November 2025, there were over 87,168 EV charging points across the UK, across 44,326 charging locations (Since November 2024, the total number of charging devices has grown by 20%).

Mother and daughter, both wearing grey coats and scarves, hold a charging connector up to a electric vehicle

The charging network is made up of different types of charge points for different use cases, from high speed en-route chargers and charging hubs to destination chargers and on-street provision: the 4 speeds or power ratings are defined as slow (3-7kW), fast (8-49kW), rapid (50-149kW) and ultra-rapid (150kW+).

The latest public rapid charge points can provide a 0-80% charge for many EVs – equating to around 200 miles in some cases – in around 30 minutes. However, bear in mind that your EV will only be able to charge at the maximum rate of its charging capability, regardless of the power of the charger itself.

Looking for a place to plug in?

We’ve teamed up with Zapmap, the UK’s leading EV charging network app, to make it easier to find somewhere to charge.

With more than 80,000 public charging points across the UK, the interactive map below lets you search by location, filter by connector type or charging speed, and check real-time availability – so you can plan your route or find a charger nearby with confidence.

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Other resources to navigate the public charging network:

A Better Route PlannerWe like ABRP for planning longer trips. Simply type in your starting point, destination and vehicle model and ABRP will route your journey with chargepoints along the way.BonnetBonnet allows EV drivers to charge on multiple charging networks across Europe in the most reliable and user-friendly way. What's more, EVA England members receive 10% off all their public charging for 2 months.Octopus ElectroverseWith over 900,000 chargers on the Electroverse network – all accessible by one card and app – Octopus Electroverse is one of the largest EV charging networks in the world. Plus, you can receive £10 off your public charging when you sign up to Octopus Electroverse as an EVA England member!PlugshareA database of over 600,000 chargepoints, all over the world. Simply enter your location or postcode and find a place to plug in your EV. It’s also available as a mobile app.

En-Route Charging vs Destination Charging

Both en-route and destination charging play an important role. Together they ensure EV drivers can travel long distances and top up conveniently.

En-route charging

En-route charging refers to the chargepoints you use during a journey.
Typically these chargers are located on or near major roads, motorway service areas, service forecourts, and just like petrol stations you’ll find them in hubs of 6 or more chargers. These tend to be rapid or ultra-rapid as their purpose is to minimise queues and downtime: you plug in, take a short break, and return to the road with enough charge to reach your next stop confidently.

Destination charging

Destination charging however is there for you to top up at the end point of a journey, where you plan to stay for a longer period such as a hotels, tourist attractions, restaurants or supermarkets.
These chargers are typically slow or fast AC units, designed for convenience rather than speed so your vehicle can charge in the background while you shop, work, relax or explore.

Many National Trust sites across the UK now offer destination charging, making it even easier to top up while enjoying a day out.

Working with their charging partner, RAW Charging, the National Trust is continuing to roll out additional chargepoints at countryside, coastal and heritage locations.

Click here to see the growing list of National Trust sites that offer EV Charging

EVA England is working in partnership with the BVRLA, Autotrader, Charge UK, UK Hospitality, UKinbound and Zapmap to run the Bon VoyCharge campaign, which promotes the need to plan and install destination chargers.

The campaign aims to work with policymakers as well as the hospitality and tourism sectors to secure greater installation of destination chargepoints. It also celebrates good practice, raising public awareness and confidence in those destination chargepoints already operating well in the UK.

As part of this campaign, we’ve created 3 guides to support accommodation, leisure locations and airports in installing or upscaling their EV charging provisions, as well as a guide for visitors to the UK to help them understand the EV offers that are available and how to get the best out of them.

Access the Guides now

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