Zapmap, the UK’s leading charge point mapping service, has today released its annual satisfaction rankings for high-powered, ‘en-route’ public charging networks in the UK with Fastned coming in first place.
Now in its sixth year, the league table derives from Zapmap’s annual EV charging survey, conducted during October 2023. The survey, which is the most established and comprehensive survey of EV drivers in the UK, saw record responses from more than 4,000 electric car drivers.
Go deeper with GlobalData
This year, for the first time, Zapmap has produced two sets of network rankings, to better account for the difference in scale and operation between those predominantly focused on rapid or en-route charging and those which are mainly supporting the rollout of on-street or destination chargers. The rankings for on-street and destination charging providers will be announced next week.
For this year’s 2023-24 rankings, Zapmap is again awarding a ‘Best EV Charging Network’ accreditation to the top scorer, with the others in the top five also receiving an ‘EV Driver Recommended’ title. However, for the first time, Zapmap is also introducing a new ‘Up and Coming Network’ accreditation.
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.
In first place this year is the distinctive Fastned network, which provides high-power charging hubs with multiple devices at each location. Fastned scored particularly highly for the reliability and ease of use of its charging network, and secures this year’s ‘Best EV Charging Network’ badge.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataIn second and third place respectively this year are MFG EV Power and Osprey Charging, two networks also focusing on rolling out high-speed charging hubs at a national level. The two networks earn the ‘EV Driver Recommended’ title for the 2023-24 rankings, alongside Ionity and InstaVolt, which take fourth and fifth place respectively.
The league table illustrates Zapmap users’ most popular ‘en-route’ public charging networks in the UK. These operators predominantly offer high-powered charging devices, catering to drivers looking to charge up as quickly as possible during longer journeys.
It is worth highlighting that ChargePlace Scotland – which holds seventh place overall – takes first place for customer support and also value for money, thanks to some of its extensive network of charge points still being free to use.
At the lower end of the table, bp pulse and GeniePoint have swapped places, with the former taking 10th position and the latter coming in at eleven. The two networks, which both operate a large number of charge points across the country, came lower down in terms of reliability and ease of use – areas both operators are working hard to improve upon.
This year Zapmap has also added a new ‘Up and Coming Network’ category, for those networks with not quite the requisite number of responses from EV drivers in the survey, but whose performance would have put them near the top of the table.
The en-route ‘Up and Coming Network’ this year is evyve, a new network that already has over 100 charging locations and 220 devices across the UK, most of them higher-powered devices.
Melanie Shufflebotham, Co-founder & COO at Zapmap, said: “This year has seen continued growth in the number of new electric cars registered, and in parallel significant growth in the charging infrastructure that many drivers depend upon.
“The results of our annual EV survey highlight that for many EV drivers availability and reliability of chargers remain a concern. That’s exactly why these rankings and our ‘Best EV Charging Network’ accreditations are important. They provide feedback directly from EV drivers and act as a solid indication of which networks are more dependable.
“Splitting the rankings into two categories reflects the growing nature of the market, with many more players and more specialisation, so it makes sense to compare similar networks.
“Going forward we hope that all the charge point networks will continue to focus on providing both more chargers and a reliable, easy-to-use charging experience for EV drivers.”
Over half of all buyers expect their next car to be an EV or hybrid
