Majority of on-street houses not near a EV charger

Research has found that approximately 90 per cent of the on-street household population are outside of the five-minute catchment area to an electric vehicle charger – potentially reducing the appeal of switching to e-mobility.

Field Dynamics, in partnership with Zap-Map, have highlighted the importance of understanding the location of the residents who will rely on public charging before planning residential electric vehicle charging sites, demonstrating how a better residential charging service can be achieved by siting chargers in more focused locations and how surprisingly few chargers will be needed.  

Using advanced Ordnance Survey mapping, the research found that nearly eight million household across Great Britain, outside of London, are on-street households in which they do not have off-street parking facilities and will therefore rely on on-street electric vehicle charging when they make the shift to drive electric.

Using data provided by Zap-Map, the study identified 7,563 charger sites outside of London and subsequently analysed the number of ‘On-Street’ households, within a reasonable five minute walk of the nearest site. Roughly 90 per cent of the On-Street household population were outside of the five minute catchment area – potentially reducing the appeal of switching to e-mobility, due to inconvenience or impracticality.

Brighton and Hove Council have achieved 67 per cent coverage of households that require on-street charging provision by placing just 139 chargers. This suggests that most councils will require a few hundred charger sites to ensure there is access to a charger within a five minute walk for those residents who will need to access this critical service.