How many TESLA Charging Stations are there in the UK?
Tesla operates two different networks – Super Charger and Destination Chargers, and continues to expand its charging network to meet growing demand. There are now more than 880 Superchargers in the UK and many more destination chargers.
Superchargers allow Tesla drivers to rapid charge on the UK’s major trunk roads, while Destination chargers are installed at destinations like popular hotels,restaurants etc . These are locations where drivers are likely to spend a longer period of time, and they are usually free to use for the customer of the destination.
Tesla continues to reduce charging times with V3 Supercharger and On Route Battery Warming.
The latest iteration of Tesla’s charging device – the Supercharger V3 can charge at a capacity of up to 250kW per car compared with 150kW in the upgraded V2. What this means is Model 3 drivers can charge at a rate of up to 1000 miles per hour. Also there is no longer power sharing, so the speed of your charge is not diminished by the guy or gall next door.
Tesla estimate that this will bring the average charging times down from half an hour to about 15 minutes.
A new feature called On Route Battery Warm Up heats the battery pack while on route to a charging station so that they are at optimal temperature to charge – reducing the time still further.
What does it cost to charge a Tesla?
For drivers of older Tesla models it is free to use both networks. However any Tesla ordered after 15th January 2017 needs to pay for the use of the rapid Super charger points. For Tesla drivers who pay to charge on the Supercharger network the cost per charge is typically 50-60 pence per kWh
Destination chargers are free to use by all Tesla drivers who are customers of the destinations where the points are located.
Access to the charger is dependent on car-to-charger communication, so for non Tesla drivers there is no Supercharger or Destination cross-network compatibility. However, Tesla often install a non-Tesla type 2 charge point alongside their Destination chargers and these are available for any EV driver to use providing they have a type 2 inlet on their car since the unit comes with tethered cables.
How many Charging Points are there in the UK?
There are almost 34,000 car charging points across the UK, based at around 20,500 locations.(Updated August 2022 ) with over 1500 being added in the last month according to Zap Map.
There are now more electric charging locations than conventional fuel stations. Nissan revealed that as at August 2019 there were over 9,000 EV charging stations across the UK compared to 8,396 fuel stations, which have been declining in recent years.
In contrast EV charging sites are increasing rapidly – from just over 900 in 2012, rising to over 6,500 in 2018. With locations increasing monthly the total so far in 2022 has reached a staggering 20,000 including more than 13,000 Rapid Charging points.
