Solving UK’s EV roll-out location problem

The challenge is no longer simply how many chargers we build, but whether we are building them in the right place. The Ordnance Survey’s Tom Gray maps out a route forward

The UK’s electric vehicle charging network is growing. But growth alone will not guarantee success.

New Department for Transport figures show the country is adding more chargers each year, with 88,513 public electric vehicle (EV) charging devices recorded in February 2026, 19% more than a year earlier. 

Yet as the demand for EV’s accelerates, the pace and distribution of their infrastructural roll-out is becoming increasingly uneven. The real challenge is no longer simply how many chargers we build, but whether we are building them in the right place. This misalignment is, at its core, a location problem. 

Month-on-month installation rates have become less consistent, suggesting that national rollout is beginning to encounter structural challenges around planning, deployment and local infrastructure. 

The scale of the task ahead is significant. To reach the government’s minimum target of 300,000 public chargers by 2030, around 211,000 additional devices will need to be installed over the next four years. This implies sustained annual growth of close to 30%.
 
At the same time, demand for electrified vehicles continues to rise. The SMMT shows that combined sales of battery electric, hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles reached 44,085 in February 2026 – a 10.4% increase year on year – and electrified vehicles account for nearly half of new car registrations.
 
Taken together, these trends point to a system under increasing pressure, where growth alone is no longer enough, and where better use of geospatial data will be essential to align infrastructure with how real people live, work and travel. 

The gap between charger growth and real-world access

Access to charging infrastructure remains uneven. Those with driveways or off-street parking can typically charge at home, often at far lower cost than public alternatives. But millions of households, particularly in urban areas, terraced housing or flats, do not have that option. In these areas, the challenge is less about upfront costs and more about consistency. Charging depends on availability, reliability and how easily it fits into existing routines, factors that make EV ownership less straightforward without access to home charging. 

Where local provision is limited, reliance shifts towards rapid or ultra-rapid chargers at motorway services or commercial sites. While they are essential for long-distance travel, they are typically more expensive than residential or on-street charging. Over time, this imbalance risks creating a two-tier charging experience, and with it, uneven confidence in EV ownership.

The problem is not just the cost of charging, but its placement. Charging infrastructure is often built where it is easiest or most commercially attractive, rather than where demand is greatest. As a result, some areas risk being overserved while others, particularly communities with limited off-street parking, remain underserved. 
Without a clearer understanding of how demand is distributed at a local level, this pattern risks reinforcing regional disparities and creating critical gaps in the charging network, rather than closing them. 

Why the next phase of EV roll-out must be data-led

Planning EV infrastructure requires understanding how multiple datasets interact across a physical landscape. Housing types, parking access, traffic flows, grid capacity, and travel patterns all shape where charging demand will emerge. Bringing these factors together enables policymakers and local authorities to prioritise investment accordingly.

Better spatial planning also helps avoid costly deployment errors and poorly sited installations. Chargers installed in poorly chosen locations can remain underused, tying up investment that could have been directed elsewhere and place unnecessary pressure on local electricity networks, triggering delays or expensive grid upgrades. 

For local authorities responsible for delivering much of the UK’s charging infrastructure, access to high-quality location data is therefore becoming critical as they balance cost, coverage and fair distribution.

Ordnance Survey’s work reflects how mapping itself has evolved to support these challenges. Today, OS maintains a digital database containing more than 600 million location features across Great Britain, updated around 30,000 times every day. Increasingly, artificial intelligence is helping extract new insights from this data to support infrastructural planning.

This capability is already being applied to EV infrastructure. Working with Transport for the North, Ordnance Survey developed a machine learning model to identify where households can and cannot access home or off-street EV charging. 

By analysing driveways across the UK, this model highlights neighbourhoods where reliance on public charging is likely to be highest and helps local authorities plan infrastructural investment based on real-world needs rather than assumptions.

As the UK moves towards its 2030 charging targets, success will not be measured by charger numbers alone. It will depend on whether the network reflects how people actually live, work and travel. Building this network requires more than investment. It requires better geospatial insight and the ability to turn this insight into actionable, smarter decisions about where investment in infrastructure is directed next.

Tom Gray is transport market development lead at Ordnance Survey (OS)
www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk

Tom Gray leads the Ordnance Survey’s market strategy across the transport sector, with a focus on electric vehicle infrastructure, fleet decarbonisation and digital transport systems. He works closely with public sector bodies, fleet operators and industry partners to identify where geospatial data can better support infrastructure planning and operational decision-making.

Tom is also an EV owner, currently driving a battery electric vehicle for work and personal travel, giving him first-hand experience of workplace, home and public charging environments alongside his professional focus on infrastructure planning.