Ultra-rapid charging growth accelerates by nearly 40%, Zapmap reveals

The UK’s public EV charging network added almost 8,700 chargers during the first nine months of 2026, with growth increasingly concentrated on ultra-rapid infrastructure designed to support longer journeys.

New figures from Zapmap show the UK now has 124,738 public EV chargers across 48,298 locations – representing a 9% year-on-year increase. En-route charging has grown the fastest, up 23.1% year on year to 14,053 chargers.

It's ultra-rapid chargers, however, which have seen a particularly large growth. Units rated at 150kW and above have increased by 39.1% year-on-year to a total of 15,335 units. By comparison, the number of conventional rapid chargers is down by -1%, as operators increasingly upgrade existing points to higher power ratings.

There are now 1,070 charging hubs in the UK, up 28% defined by Zapmap as locations with at least eight rapid or ultra-rapid chargers. A further 144 hubs have been added to the database so far in 2026.

This growth is significant for fleets, with high-powered charging increasingly available across the road network as well as retail and leisure destinations. This means, depending on what vehicle you're driving, it may be able to charge more quickly in the real world. 

Furthermore, Zapmap claims the financial case for electrification is strengthening. A typical EV driver that completes 20% of charging on the public network could now save around £1,130 a year in fuel costs compared with a comparable petrol or diesel vehicle, thus strengthening the case for fleets to transition to fully-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles over traditional petrol and diesel.

If that level of growth continues, fleet operators and company car drivers could foresee less time recharging their vehicles when out on the road, which strengthens the case for employees that need to cover long distances using an EV. 

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