EV charging industry warns roll-out will slow without grid support

Charging network’s growth is being held back by slow grid connections, say operators

Delays in connecting chargers to the National Grid are a “substantial bottleneck” for the growth of EV charging infrastructure, claims the UK’s biggest charging body.
ChargeUK, whose members include BP Pulse, Gridserve and Ionity, says variations in working practices between the country’s 14 distribution network operators (DNOs) – which own, maintain and operate the energy network – are often to blame.
“Varying standards and slow processes are a significant problem,” said Jarrod Birch, ChargeUK’s head of policy. “We need renewed collaboration and focus to speed things up”.
There are currently more than 86,000 public charge points in the UK that vary from speeds of 3kW (slow) to 480kW (ultra-rapid).
Osprey, the UK’s third-largest operator, with almost 1500 rapid and ultra-rapid chargers, expanded its network by 150% last year but believes it could have grown faster with better support from DNOs.
“The