New data from ChargePoint suggests that even as charging networks expand rapidly, they’re still struggling to keep pace with how quickly drivers are using them — and the same pressure is starting to show up in the UK’s own figures too.
The company says it added 190,000 new charging ports to its US network in 2025, yet charger utilisation still outpaced that growth by almost 20%. The number of charging sessions across the network rose by 34% year-on-year, despite a comparatively smaller rise in the number of EVs on the road — pointing to existing drivers simply charging more often, rather than growth being driven purely by new EV owners. ChargePoint’s chief executive said the industry has entered a new phase where the total number of EVs already on the road, rather than new sales figures, is now the better measure of charging demand.
It’s worth being upfront that this particular dataset comes from ChargePoint’s own US network rather than the UK specifically. But the underlying tension is one UK drivers relying on public rapid charging will recognise. The UK’s public charging network reached 121,171 chargers by the end of June 2026, up 10% year-on-year according to Zapmap — a marked slowdown from the growth rates of more than 40% recorded as recently as 2024. That cooling is happening at the same time as more than two million electric cars are now on UK roads, a milestone passed in April, and against a government target of 300,000 public chargers by 2030 that still leaves a lot of ground to cover.
Not every part of the UK network is slowing at the same rate. Ultra-rapid chargers — the ones most useful to high-mileage drivers needing a quick top-up between airport jobs — grew 37% year-on-year in the first half of 2026, with the UK now home to almost 14,000 of them. Operators appear to be prioritising these higher-power, higher-revenue units over standard chargers, which is good news if you can find one nearby but doesn’t do much for drivers relying on slower on-street or destination charging.
The slowdown in overall rollout has been linked to sustained lobbying from carmakers to water down the UK’s zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, alongside rising installation costs for charge point operators. If growth keeps cooling while the number of EVs on the road keeps climbing, the same demand-outpacing-supply squeeze ChargePoint is describing in the US could easily become a more familiar story here too.
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