The number of public EV chargers in the UK grew by 37% last year, according to government data, but there are huge regional differences in the network.

The latest data from the Department for Transport (DfT) is from January 1, 2022 and comes from charger mapping company Zap-Map.

There were 28,375 public EV chargers available and operational in the UK as of this date, which is 7,600 more than on 1 January 2021. This also represents a 9% increase on the previous DfT survey at the start of October 2021.

Of that total, 5,156 were fast chargers, which are defined as being capable of charging at rates of 25kW or more. This represents a 33% year-over-year increase.

As a result, there are now 42 chargers and 7.7 fast chargers per 100,000 people in the UK – a ratio that will need to increase dramatically in view of all new ICE cars and vans being banned by 2035.

The DfT also highlighted the huge – and growing – geographical disparity between regions in the UK.

In terms of public chargers, London has 102 per 100,000 people, almost double that of any other region in the UK.

Scotland has 52 chargers per 100,000 inhabitants, ahead of the South East (39), the North East (36), the South West (32) and Wales (33).

Northern Ireland has the lowest proportion of chargers, with just 18 per 100,000 people. The lowest region in England is the North West (24), just behind Yorkshire and the Humber (26).

Scotland is well ahead of the rest of the UK when it comes to fast chargers, with 12.9 per 100,000 people. The North East and South East both have 8.6, ahead of London (8.0), the South West (7.9) and Wales (5.6). Northern Ireland lags even further behind the UK in the supply of fast chargers, with just 1.2 units per 100,000 people.