Zap-Map reveals best and worst EV charging providers in new survey

By Sam Phillips

3 Nov 2022

Leading public charging mapping service Zap-Map has revealed the best and worst public charging networks in the UK in its annual EV public charging survey.

This year’s study, which asked more than 4000 EV drivers, revealed that charging networks Fastned and MFG Power - two ultra-rapid providers - were the best available, coming in joint first place.

The winners both scored highly for reliability and ease of use. This was the first time Fastned had appeared as an entrant in Zap-Map’s annual survey.

Fastned and MFG power have 31 and 220 ultra-rapid charging devices within their networks, respectively.

Instavolt’s rapid network came home in third place, while Connected Kerb and Osprey came in joint fourth.

Based on the responses from the public, Zap-Map awards the top scorers with a ‘Best EV Charging Network’, while the top five networks receive an ‘EV Driver Recommended’ title.

Respondents are asked to rate their overall satisfaction for the networks they use regularly, which is then used to rank each network out of five stars. Key areas such as: reliability, ease of use, customer support, value for money and payment options are all rated by the user.

Other new entrants were also included in the survey, with Be.EV, VendElectric and Dragon Charging coming in joint-10th, joint-12th, and joint-15th respectively.

Two networks which slipped down the table compared to last year were Gridserve Electric Highway and Geniepoint. Gridserve came joint fifth last year but came in joint tenth in the 2022 survey, while Genepoint dropped from 11th place last year to 19th overall.

Both providers operate a large number of chargers across the country, scoring less points in terms of reliability than last year.

BP Pulse scored two-and-a-half stars out of five making it the second worst provider, according to Zap-Map’s survey. In last place was Charge Your Car, which scored poorly for reliability, with many users saying that chargers were often out of service, maintenance was slow and customer service was patchy.

“Already this year we’ve seen huge change across the industry, from strong EV sales through to high growth in ultra-rapid infrastructure, and of course significant price fluctuations at the charge point due to rising energy costs,” said Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and COO of Zap-Map.

“Despite this, it’s clear that factors such as reliability and ease of use continue to be the most important in contributing to a good charging experience. These should be top priorities across all the UK’s public charging networks.

““The Zap-Map survey shows that while many networks provide a dependable, easy-to-use service, others have room for improvement. As EVs increasingly enter the mainstream, it’s crucial that collectively we make public charging as simple and reliable as possible.”

This year the number of charging points available has grown significantly, according to Zap-Map, with almost 36,000 charging devices installed across the UK. Zap-Map added that as of October there has been a 76% increase in the number of ultra-rapid devices across the country since the same period last year.

Zap-Map also noted an increase in the number of high-power charging hubs and on-street charging all contributing to the expansion of the EV charging network.