A consumer advice page published by Heatable states that the UK had over 76,000 public electric vehicle chargers as of April 2025, and that this figure far outnumbers the 8,353 petrol stations still in operation1. The comparison appears in a guide to tethered and untethered home chargers, updated on 17 July 2026, and is presented as context for the growth of charging rather than as a standalone statistical release1.
The 76,000 figure and the petrol station count are not attributed in that page to a named statistical source, and no breakdown by power rating, nation or region is given alongside them1. The most recent official series covering public charging infrastructure in the UK reports a much later position: as of 1 July 2026 there were 121,171 public EV chargers in the United Kingdom, or 174.9 per 100,000 of the population, of which 28,887 were rated rapid or above at 50kW and higher2. That release, published on 27 August 2026 by the Department for Transport, also records 97,266 public charging devices on the same date, reflecting a change in the measure used2.
The two sets of figures are not directly comparable. From 1 January 2026 the official series counts publicly available EV chargers, or EVSE, replacing the earlier measure of charging devices2. The official release also notes that one charge point operator removed approximately 1,270 EV chargers from its publicly available open charging data in June 2026, having reported private access chargers improperly as public ones, which affected the 2026 growth trend2.
On the official count, 5,119 public EV chargers were added to the network in the year to 1 July 2026, against a total of 13,281 added by the end of 20252. Industry estimates cited in the same release put additions at 24,557 in 2024 and 20,662 in 2023, figures the release states fall outside the scope of official statistics2. By power band, 49% of chargers were rated standard at 3kW to less than 8kW, 27% standard plus at 8kW to less than 50kW, 12% rapid at 50kW to less than 150kW and 12% ultra-rapid at 150kW and above2. By location type, 52% were classed as destination chargers, 33% on-street, 11% en-route and 4% other2.
| Measure | Figure | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Public EV chargers, UK | 121,171 | 1 July 20262 |
| Public EV chargers per 100,000 population | 174.9 | 1 July 20262 |
| Rapid or above chargers (50kW+) | 28,887 | 1 July 20262 |
| Public EV chargers, UK | Over 76,000 | April 20251 |
| Petrol stations in operation | 8,353 | Not dated1 |
Why it matters for households
Public charging numbers matter most to homes without a driveway, where a public charge point is the practical alternative to charging at home. The official split shows where that capacity sits: on-street chargers made up 33% of the network, while 49% of all chargers were standard units at 3kW to less than 8kW, the slower end of the range2. Households weighing a home charger against reliance on the public network can see the charging infrastructure statistics for the underlying counts.
The petrol station comparison is a measure of network scale rather than of like-for-like refuelling speed, and the two figures come from different sources with different dates2. The official release also notes that 16.7% of public chargers in England and Wales were in rural areas, against 17.5% of the population living there2.
What happens next
The next quarterly official release in this series is scheduled for November 20262. No further update to the 76,000 figure has been reported1.