Guidance

Electric vehicle charging device grant schemes statistics: Methodology note

Updated 20 November 2024

Introduction

This methodological note accompanies the electric vehicle charging device grant schemes statistics release series. It provides background information about the data used and the methodology behind the statistics.

Please ensure you consider the limitations discussed in this methodology note when interpreting or using the statistics.

What is covered by these statistics

This statistical release series presents quarterly updates to the roll out of government grant-funded electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the UK. It intends to inform users both internal and external to government. The statistics cover grant-funded private domestic and workplace charging, as well as grant-funded on-street charging. The statistics cover the UK, and include the value of these grants and device provision across geographical breakdowns.

Quality

These statistics are labelled ‘official statistics in development’, formerly Experimental Statistics. These are official statistics that are undergoing development and are being tested with users in line with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

These statistics do not meet the rigorous quality standards of accredited official statistics due to partial coverage, the use of administrative data, and under-counting in most recent quarters whilst applications for grants are still being processed.

Development plan

As these statistics are labelled ‘official statistics in development’, this release series is undergoing a development phase to increase our understanding of the quality, accuracy, reliability and value of these statistics. We expect this release series to remain labelled as ‘official statistics in development’ for the foreseeable future. Electric vehicle charging is a rapidly developing policy area, and this release series may develop alongside changes to policy, the grants available, and user interest. For example, in April 2024, the ORCS closed to new applicants and the statistics covering it will no longer be updated when all current and future grant-funded projects are completed.

Limitations are explained in this document to maximise the trustworthiness of our statistics, and we are regularly reviewing ways to mitigate these as part of this development phase.

We welcome feedback from users of these statistics. This can be provided by emailing us.

How we measure charging infrastructure in this release series

Statistics in this release series either measure charging devices or charging socket provision, depending on the data available for each grant scheme. Devices are physical units with one or more connecting sockets. Each socket is capable of charging a plug-in electric vehicle. Sockets and devices represent different charging capabilities, so please take caution when summing device and socket numbers across the schemes.

This release series presents socket-level statistics on the Electric Vehicle Chargepoint Grant (EVCG) and the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS). It presents device-level statistics on 3 schemes that are closed to new applicants, the:

• On-Street Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS)
• Domestic Recharging Scheme (DRS)
• Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS)

The term ‘chargepoint’ is also sometimes used in discussions about charging infrastructure. It was used in previous statistical publications from the DfT. We do not currently use ‘chargepoint’ in statistical context. However, the term is still used in other contexts.

Data source

Statistics for each grant scheme are produced using administrative data supplied by different groups.

EVCG data is supplied by Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and Capgemini. We clean and combine datasets updated by DVLA and Capgemini to produce EVCG statistics. This includes data quality checks, data processing to aggregate data and assign to geographies, and reformatting data to produce charts and tables.

WCS data is supplied to the DfT by DVLA. It is held by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). We clean and combine datasets updated by DVLA to produce WCS statistics. This includes data quality checks, data processing to aggregate data and assign to geographies, and reformatting data to produce maps, charts, and tables.

ORCS data is held by OZEV and supplied by the Energy Savings Trust. We clean this dataset to produce ORCS statistics. This includes data quality checks, aggregating data and assign to geographies, and reformatting data to produce maps and tables.

The data in this release series represents a snapshot of grants processed in administrative databases as at the first of the quarter. For example, the statistics covering the second quarter of 2024 were released on 11 September 2024 and presented data correct as at midnight 1 July 2024.

As the data represents snapshots of administrative databases in time, please note that an increase in numbers between 2 points in time reflects the total net increase between the 2 snapshots of data, and not necessarily the number of installations. Grants are captured in our statistics when they are added to the datasets, which is not always the same as when the grant was awarded or the associated equipment was installed.

Limitations

Grants can take several months to process. This means the most recent quarter’s statistics are likely to contain undercounting for schemes open to applicants.

The total number of devices installed using ORCS funding is likely to be higher than reported. Our data counts devices installed when the project they form a part of has completed installation and funding has been successfully claimed by the local or combined authority. This means any devices installed in projects awaiting any installation or claims processes are not captured in our completed ORCS installation statistics.

This release series may not cover all domestic and workplace charging infrastructure due to a lack of data coverage. Some of this infrastructure may be privately funded, some manufacturers choose not to be part of government grant schemes, and manufacturers that do must be approved by OZEV to be included in government grants:

• approved manufacturers for the EVCG
• approved manufacturers for the WCS

A small minority of grant applications may contain errors, hold incomplete information, or refer to defunct or incorrect geographical areas. This may lead to a very small number of cases being excluded from our statistics if data is not of adequate quality. Counts between publications can vary very slightly as a result.

We are unable to confirm if devices installed under grant schemes are still in operation.

These statistics do not include devices on the public charging network installed and fully funded by chargepoint operators. Please see our public charging infrastructure release series.

Charging geography

This release series contains statistics on charging infrastructure and provision by population levels across Office for National Statistics (ONS) administrative geographies such as local authorities and regions. Access the ONS Geography Portal to see the geographical area covered by any administrative geography in our statistics. The administrative geographies used are up to date as of April 2023 but are subject to change alongside changes to local authority areas or ONS boundaries.

Population figures by local authority are sourced from the Office for National Statistics Population Mid-Year Estimates.

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Contact details

Electric vehicle charging infrastructure statistics

Email [email protected]