Charge point mapping service Zap-Map has released its annual public charging network satisfaction rankings, with Fastned and MFG EV Power topping the list.
Fastned and MFG EV Power, which both provide hubs with multiple chargers at each location, scored particularly highly for reliability and ease of use, and they jointly secure the ‘Best EV Charging Network’ badge.
Taking third place this year is rapid network InstaVolt, while Connected Kerb and Osprey come in joint fourth – meaning all three networks earn the ‘EV Driver Recommended’ title.
Significantly, two networks to have slipped down the table since last year are GRIDSERVE Electric Highway and GeniePoint. From joint-fifth last year, GRIDSERVE Electric Highway now comes in at joint-10th, while GeniePoint has dropped from 11th place last year to 19th position overall, the company said.
The table below shows the full list of Zap-Map users’ most popular public EV charging networks in the UK.
Now in its fifth year, the league table comes from Zap-Map’s annual EV charging survey conducted in September 2022. The survey recorded responses from more than 4,300 EV drivers.
Zap-Map has awarded top scorers with a ‘Best EV Charging Network’ accreditation, with the rest of the top five receiving an ‘EV Driver Recommended’ title.
As part of the survey, respondents rated their overall satisfaction for the networks they use regularly, which is then used to rank each network out of a maximum of five stars. They also rated their level of satisfaction with the networks in five key areas: reliability, ease of use, customer support, value for money, and payment options.
This year there are six new entrants to the league table. European operator Fastned, which has recently been expanding its UK charging network, has opened a handful of ultra-rapid hubs this year – and enters the list in joint-first place.
On-street provider Connected Kerb has shot into joint-fourth position, after rapid growth this year has seen its network expand to more than 1,000 chargers. Zap-Pay partner Mer also makes the league table for the first time, coming joint-seventh alongside Pod Point and ubitricity. Be.EV, VendElectric and Dragon Charging are new entrants to the league table too, coming in at joint-10th, joint-12th, and joint-15th respectively.
“Already this year we’ve seen huge change across the industry, from strong EV sales through to high growth in ultra-rapid infrastructure, and of course significant price fluctuations at the charge point due to rising energy costs,” said Melanie Shufflebotham, Co-founder & COO at Zap-Map. “Despite this, it’s clear that factors such as reliability and ease of use continue to be the most important in contributing to a good charging experience.”
EV adoption and charge point infrastructure have continued to see significant growth in the number of new EV drivers across the country, despite supply chain issues hampering the automotive sector overall. There are now around 600,000 pure-electric cars on UK roads, roughly 200,000 new EV drivers this year, with a parallel increase in the charging infrastructure that supports them. The UK now has almost 36,000 charging devices, an increasing proportion of which are ultra-rapid chargers ideal for longer journeys. Indeed, as of October there has been a 76% increase in the number of ultra-rapid devices across the country since the same period last year.