Best charging stations: The 10 best public chargers for electric car drivers

For most electric car and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) drivers, charging at home or at work is going to be the cheapest and most convenient way to ‘fuel’ your car.

But for longer journeys or drivers who can’t access off street parking at all, replenishing the battery will need to be done at one of the 65,000+ commercially-available chargers in the UK.

According to the Driver Power survey conducted by Auto Express, 78% of electric car drivers already use public chargers, of which more than half are using faster DC ‘rapid’ points, such as those found at service stations.

Other chargers offer slower AC feeds, which are aimed at drivers who will be parked for longer periods rather than topping up in the middle of a journey. They are ideal for plugging in overnight at a hotel or on a street, or perhaps while you are shopping.

There are several companies who offer charging and they vary in price, ease of use and location. As the number available increases every year, drivers have much more choice of where to charge on a journey. You can select one which might have somewhere to eat, choose to top up while you are shopping, or just select the provider with the lowest price.

It can be well worth shopping around too, as the difference between the cheapest and most expensive could be more than £25 for a full charge. Multiply that over a few weeks and it will really add up.

While most rapid chargers will accept contactless payments, others will need you to download an app, or may offer a discount if you do.

These are our top 10 public charging providers.

BP Pulse Charging Stations

Best for: Subscribers
Driver Power rating: 68%
Cost: 44 to 89p per kWh
Speed: Up to 150kW

It’s fair to say BP Pulse has had a few issues in the past, mainly because it was an early entrant into the charging market and a lot of its equipment was old and badly maintained. It has improved since then, but many users are still wary.

The rapid points found on site at BP petrol stations are the fastest, best maintained and safest to use. There are many other DC chargers which have been placed in other locations such as restaurant and hotel car parks, which can be tricky to find and feel quite exposed, especially at night. Some big cities also have BP chargers at the side of the road to cater for taxi drivers.

The company also has a huge network of slower AC chargers, although many are in car parks and businesses which aren’t easily accessible to the public. These will usually require the app or an RFID card, but make sure you have decent mobile phone coverage if you are relying on the app only – some sites are underground.

Payment is either contactless (for the DC points) or via the app. While you can enter your payment card details as a guest, it will encourage you to take the top up option, where you add a set amount to your account. This can mean you leave unspent money if you are not a regular user.

The firm’s costs are at the higher end for the ‘Pay As You Go’ option, but you can save 20% by subscribing at a cost of £7.85 per month. Do some sums to work out if this makes sense for you.

A word of warning for business customers though – getting hold of an expense receipt for charging with BP is frustratingly complicated.

PodPoint Charging Stations

Best for: Interconnectivity
Driver Power rating: 77%
Cost: 44 to 69p per kWh
Speed: Up to 75kW

Many electric car drivers will have the PodPoint app on their phone purely because it’s needed to charge at a Tesco, which is one of the largest networks in the UK with more than 100 stores offering points.

The company used to run Lidl’s network too, but this has recently been taken in house, and rumour has it Tesco will do the same in the near future. It’s also noticeable that other PodPoint facilities are disappearing at locations such as airports. This is part of an ‘orderly exit’ from the public charging business by the company.

Some of these points used to be free to use, but sadly that’s just a distant memory. The prices are still reasonable though, ranging from 44p per kWh for the slowest 7kW charge to 69p for a 75kW connection. As most PodPoint locations are in supermarkets, the 7kW is of limited use, as a leisurely shop will only get you enough charge to drive 20 miles or so. The 22kW points at many locations are more useful for some cars which are able to accept faster AC connections, and are cheaper – and less likely to be in use – than the 75kW DC points.

While the rapid chargers can be paid for using a contactless card, the AC points require the app, which needs you to top up a balance. It’s simple to use and offers some interesting features, such as statistics which show you the amount you’ve charged and when. This can integrate with your PodPoint home charger and get a decent overview of how much energy your car is using and what it’s costing you.

InstaVolt Charging Stations

Best for: Customer service
Driver Power rating: 81%
Cost: 54p to 85p per kWh
Speed: Up to 160kW

Are you a night owl or a very early riser? Then it’s possible to charge at an Instavolt surprisingly cheaply, with off-peak pricing of around 54p per kWh from 10pm to 6am every day. The cost outside of these hours is 85p per kWh, which is steeper but still not the most expensive. There are no connection fees or minimum spends.

What could get pricey is the amount you’ll spend at the locations where you’ll find InstaVolts – the company’s partners include McDonalds, KFC, Costa and Starbucks. If you need to burn off some of the calories, then they are also found at Bannatyne Gyms.

Refreshingly, there is no need to worry about membership cards or subscriptions when charging with InstaVolt, you can simply use contactless on the unit or an app if you prefer. The chargers themselves are easy to use, even for less able drivers, thanks to top mounted cables which swing out, making them easier and lighter to handle. We also like the clean LED lighting and screens which make it easy to spot if they are in use and working from a distance.

They are not the fastest units, with outputs of between 50kW and 160kW, and these rates can drop at some sites if other chargers are in use at the same time. All InstaVolt charging stations are equipped with CHAdeMO and CCS2 connectors.

But Instavolt’s biggest strength has to be its strong reliability score, with a 99.8% ‘uptime’ rating for its units and a 24-hour customer care helpline. This led to it getting the second highest rating for customer service after Tesla in the Driver Power survey.

GRIDSERVE Charging Stations

Best for: Speed
Driver Power rating: 78%
Cost: 49p to 79p per kWh
Speed: Up to 350kW

If you’ve ever charged at a motorway service station, then the chances are you’ve used a GRIDSERVE point. The innovative company has got over 1,500 electric car charging bays at over 190 locations across the UK, from motorways to retail parks. It is also building EV-only Electric Forecourts which are like fuel-free service stations at key locations.

The motorway points are the most used, and the network is being constantly upgraded with better, faster and more numerous chargers. Some units offer both CCS and CHdeMO connections while others have twin CCS connectors only. Many locations also have Type 2 22kW AC sockets which cater for Renault Zoe, the Dacia Spring and some vans. They might also be useful if you are going to be at a location overnight or for a meeting and don’t need a rapid charge, especially as they’re cheaper per kWh at 49p versus 79p.

Each of the sites offers contactless payment to make it connect, or there’s an app which gives you a 5% discount and makes it easy to download receipts for your expenses.

Perhaps the biggest attraction of GRIDSERVE is the charging speeds though. In many locations there are High Power units which can deliver 350kW in the right conditions – that’s more than most cars can manage with current technology.

IONITY Charging Stations

Best for: Frequent users
Driver Power rating: 75%
Cost: 43p to 74p per kWh
Speed: Up to 350kW

IONITY is one of the better funded networks, as it is a joint venture between Mercedes , Ford, BMW and the Volkswagen Group. It means there are thousands of high-power points across Europe which offer some interesting tech which is designed to rival Tesla’s Supercharger network.

This includes the new ‘Plug and Go’ option, which allows owners who have registered to simply connect to a charger and then walk away, leaving the IONITY unit and the car to communicate and sort out the payment details.

There are other less sophisticated methods too, including an app and RFID cards from charge ‘clubs’ such as Octopus’ Electroverse. These usually offer discounts on the price too, but the biggest saving will come for frequent users who subscribe to IONITY’s Passport. There are two levels of membership costing either £5.49 or £10.50 per month, which bring the price per kWh down to 53p and 43p respectively. This makes them ideal for high mileage drivers, especially since the network is mainly sited at service stations. It works in Europe too, where IONITY is even more prevalent than in the UK.

For the more occasional user, the chargers aren’t nearly as user friendly, however. The PAYG price is reasonable at 74p, but accessing the payment is a drawn-out process, requiring you to access the IONITY website via a QR code and enter details. This can take several minutes, which is no fun as there is no shelter around the chargers.

On the plus side, many are laid out to make parking with a trailer possible and the top-mounted cables make it easier for less-able motorists.

GeniePoint Charging Stations

Best for: Supermarkets
Driver Power rating: 76%
Cost: 85p – 87p per kWh
Speed: Up to 350kW

Morrisons chose GeniePoint to provide the chargers at its stores, and although many are lower power 50-100kW units, an increasing number are full 350kW. This means you could easily get a 10-80% charge on most cars in the time it takes you to pick up a week’s shopping.

The downside is that it is on the pricey side, with PAYG prices of 85p per kWh if you are outside the M25 area and 87p if you are in London. The company had a trial with off peak prices in 2024 but this has now ended and been replaced with the flat rates.

It’s worth using the discounts available if you can; charge five times within a month with more than 15kWh and you earn a £5 charging credit. GeniePoint also works with Octopus Electroverse, Shell Recharge, Bonnet, Ford and Paua. Most of these offer some form of discount for using their card or app to pay.

There are other places which host GeniePoints too, such as council owned car parks, and the entire Revive network in the West of England is run by the company. Bear in mind that many of these will be in places which have parking charges or restrictions. Some chargers will also impose an overstay charge of £10.00 after 90 minutes and £10.00 for every 90 minutes thereafter to discourage drivers from hogging the rapid chargers for too long.

Osprey Charging Stations

Best for: Accessibility
Driver Power rating: N/A
Cost: 79p per kWh
Speed: Up to 300kW

Although Osprey has been around for a while and now has around 1200 charging stations in the UK, it’s the company’s newest charging hubs which are the most interesting. The thin devices look like low power AC units but are actually high-power DC. Osprey uses a one-charger-per-bay set up with contactless and both CCS and CHAdeMO on each dispenser.

They use a system called load balancing too, which means cars which can take a higher power feed can ‘borrow’ from other chargers which don’t need as much power. So if there is a Porsche Taycan on one and a Nissan Leaf next to it, the Porsche can have some of the hub’s capacity.

The other handy part of the chargers’ design is their accessibility. Being smaller means there is more space around them, allowing the spaces to be larger. The cables are six-metres-long, spring-loaded and mounted high, so they’re easy to lift and should reach the charge port of most cars no matter which way you park.

Payment is either via normal contactless, the Osprey app or RFID cards from ZapPay, Shell Recharge, Elli, Octopus Electroverse and Bonnet.

Shell Recharge Charging Stations

Best for: On-street charging
Driver Power rating: N/A
Cost: 49p-93p per kWh
Speed: Up to 180kW

Shell’s innovation in embracing electric car charging is to be applauded, but the pricing will be a turn off for many. It might come as a shock to some electric car drivers when they pull into a service station and see the cost is set at up to 93p per kWh, which is the most expensive of any we could find.

On the plus side, the service station chargers are conveniently located and attached to sites which have shops and cafes, so you can refresh yourself while waiting for the car to expensively top up.

The company has even rebuilt a traditional fuel station in Fulham, London into an EV charging hub with 10 x 175kW chargers, partially powered by solar panels on the canopy. More conventional locations include Waitrose car parks, with nearly 100 stores having chargers, usually consisting of six 22kW AC points and two 50kW DC rapid chargers.

More interesting – and usually better value – are the Ubitricity points run by Shell. These are a network of more than 8,000 public on-street charging stations which now form part of Shell Recharge, and they are usually found in bollards and lampposts. They only supply around 5kW, but are perfect for overnight charging.

There are two rates – the standard cost is 49p per kWh between the hours of 7pm-4pm, while the peak of 85p per kWh is between 4pm-7pm. You’ll need the app (and a decent mobile signal) to use them, and be wary of parking restrictions. Before you rely on them, bear in mind they are on normal residential streets and can be blocked by non EVs. If you need to use them regularly, think about getting a longer cable to help increase your chances of being able to connect.

Tesla Charging Stations

Best for satisfaction and price
Driver Power rating: 90%
Cost: 51/62p per kWh
Speed: Up to 250kW

Tesla’s Supercharging network is the envy of other companies and has always been one of the main reasons for buying the brand’s cars. Rather than having to search on an app and faff around with payment cards, Tesla owners can just rely on the car’s software to find one of the many Supercharger sites which is on their route, plug in and speedily top up with the cost being charged automatically to your account.

But it’s not just Tesla owners who can make use of the network. Around 42 sites are open to other electric cars, and these are largely those away from high-volume locations. There are only CCS connectors though – so Nissan Leaf and Lexus UX owners needn’t apply.

You’ll need the Tesla app downloaded to find them, start the charge and pay. You also need to think about how you will park, as the stalls are designed for cars which have the port at the nearside rear of the vehicle, so connecting a model with a connection on the front wing can involve some manoeuvres and positioning which will make you unpopular at busy times.

If you can make it work it is worth the effort though. Tesla operates peak and off-peak charging, with higher prices between 4pm and 8pm but even the top prices are cheap compared to rival networks. It varies by site but on average you can expect to pay between 51p and 62p per kWh. Time it right and you could save a tidy amount on a big charge. There are even bigger savings if you pay a monthly subscription, making it ideal for high-mileage drivers.

This price and reliability are the main reasons why Tesla’s Supercharger network came top of the Driver Power survey in 2024.

MFG EV Power Charging Stations

Best for: Ease of use
Driver Power rating: 82%
Cost: 79p per kWh
Speed: Up to 300kW

The way MFG chargers work is beautifully simple – you simply pull into one of the 130+ Motor Fuel Group filling stations which host 550 ultra-rapid chargers, plug in, tap your payment card and then go and get a coffee.

As they are all on petrol station sites they are well maintained and feel safer than those which are at remote sites and they provide between 150 kW and 300 kW of power, so you shouldn’t have to be there too long. All offer either CCS or CHAdeMO charging connectors.

As the chargers are usually in banks of at least five units, you are more likely to get a charge without a wait compared to other providers who just have one or two points.

The cost of 79p per kWh isn’t the cheapest but it undercuts most other filling station charging providers. There’s no subscription or connection charge either and if you don’t want to pay using contactless, you can also use an MFG Connect App or various roaming providers with RFID cards.

The company has recently signed a deal with Morrisons supermarkets to develop new charging hubs which will see the installation of 800 Ultra-Rapid 150kW EV chargers within the next five years.

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