Exploring the Influencing Factors of Public Electric Vehicle Charger Usage in Great Britain

The growth of electric vehicle adoption in the UK has reached a bottleneck due to the limited availability of public chargers. Understanding the usage patterns of existing public chargers and the factors influencing them is necessary for planning future charging infrastructure. Using charging session data from public EV chargers in Great Britain, collected between December 6, 2023, and March 31, 2024, we analysed usage patterns and driving factors in three case regions: Greater London, Greater Manchester, and the Central Belt of Scotland. Spatial regression models were applied to explore relationships between public charger usage rates and various contextual factors over space and time. Our findings show significant regional differences in public charger usage patterns. In Greater London, the higher prevalence of flats limits access to home charging, leading to greater reliance on public chargers, particularly for nighttime charging near residential flats. There is also a high preference for faster charging options and quick turnaround times, likely driven by high parking fees and the intensive travel schedules caused by traffic congestion. In Greater Manchester, drivers rely more on public chargers located in areas densely populated with flats, whereas areas with higher densities of houses or terraces show lower reliance on public chargers. In the Central Belt of Scotland, demand for public chargers is particularly high near motorways, likely due to the significant volume of long-distance commutes between major cities in the region. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of developing region-specific strategies for charger deployment to support a sustainable and efficient charging network.