Best and worst rated electric vehicle charging networks

Fastned and MFG EV Power – two ultra-rapid charging networks – have secured joint first place in Zap-Map’s annual public charging network satisfaction rankings.

Taking third place was InstaVolt, while Connected Kerb and Osprey come in joint fourth.

Zap-Map awards a ‘Best EV Charging Network’ accreditation to the top scorers, with the others in the top five also receiving an ‘EV Driver Recommended’ title.

Tom Hurst, Fastned’s UK lead and network development manager, said: “We are incredibly honoured to be voted joint-top CPO (charge point operator) for 2022, particularly given that this award is decided by our customers.

“That means everything to us, and validates the efforts of our design, construction, and operations teams – all of whom are dedicated to rolling out the best customer experience possible through the EV revolution.

“EV drivers have rightly set the bar high, and we will continue to do our best to exceed expectations as we exponentially grow our UK network.”

Ed Chadwick-Till, EV director at Motor Fuel Group (MFG), said he was "thrilled" that MFG EV Power was voted the UK’s joint favourite charging network.

“Our aim is simple: to make charging easy, reliable, and convenient," he added. "We believe we deliver this through our ultra-rapid hub format, and thanks to continued customer support we’re planning to accelerate our roll-out for 2023."

The Zap-Map league table is based on an its annual EV charging survey conducted in September 2022, which received responses from more than 4,300 EV drivers.

As part of the survey, respondents rated their overall satisfaction for the networks they use regularly, which is then used to rank each network out of a maximum of five stars.

They also rated their level of satisfaction with the networks in five key areas: reliability, ease of use, customer support, value for money, and payment options.

BP Pulse (formerly BP Chargemaster/Polar) was ranked fifth in 2019, before falling to 13th in 2020 and 16th last year with two-and-a-half-stars. 

The network, which is the third largest in the UK after Ubitricity and Pod Point, with a network of almost 3,000 devices, achieves the same star rating of 2.5 but has now slipped into 20th position.

It also earned a low ranking this year for reliability and ease of use, slipping a couple of places to come in the bottom two and bottom three respectively.

Survey respondents commented that units are starting to become unreliable, also noting price rises and poor customer service.

There were also mixed comments about the network’s app and support line.

BP Pulse has acknowledged issues with reliability and has been investing heavily in both customer care and its charge point management platform, as well as its charge point portfolio. 

A BP Pulse spokesman said: “We’re growing fast and investing £1 billion over 10 years. As well as growing the number of high-speed chargers, we’re upgrading our network and investing in giving customers the service they expect.”

He added: “Our own data shows strong and improving network reliability and customer satisfaction. We’re committed to continue to deliver improvements for our customers.”

At the bottom of Zap-Map’s league table is Charge Your Car’s UK-wide network, which is owned by BP Pulse.

The network, which came 17th overall last year, consists of a mix of more than 440 rapid, fast and slow charging devices (less than last year’s total of 660).

Charge Your Car earned a low ranking in all categories, coming in last place for reliability, ease of use, and customer support.

Feedback highlighted poor reliability, with chargers often being out of service, slow maintenance response and patchy customer service.

Many respondents saw Charge Your Car as old and complained about the usability of the app.

Although in last place overall, Charge Your Car came in the bottom three for payment options, and slightly closer to the middle of the pack for value for money reflecting the fact that CYC allows the host site to set the pricing. This results in a variety of prices across different areas, with many devices being free to use.

Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and chief operating officer at Zap-Map, said: “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.

“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.

“However, 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.”

Gridserve Electric Highway and GeniePoint have both slipped down the table since last year.

From joint-fifth last year, Gridserve Electric Highway now comes in at joint-10th, while GeniePoint has dropped from 11th place last year to 19th position overall.

The two networks, which both operate a large number of chargers across the country, came lower down in terms of reliability than last year – an area both operators are working hard to improve upon.

There are six new entrants to the league table. European operator Fastned, which came joint first, has recently been expanding its UK charging network and has opened a handful of ultra-rapid hubs this year

On-street provider Connected Kerb has seen its network expand to more than 1,000 chargers.

Zap-Pay partner Mer also makes the league table for the first time, coming joint-seventh alongside Pod Point and Ubitricity.

Be.EV, VendElectric and Dragon Charging are new entrants to the league table too, coming in at joint-10th, joint-12th, and joint-15th respectively.

It is also worth highlighting that ChargePlace Scotland – which holds joint-12th place overall – takes first pl

ace for cost, thanks to many of its extensive network of charge points currently being free to use.