EV charging: benchmarking asset readiness

The UK vehicle fleet is electrifying rapidly. Plug-in vehicles accounted for just 0.2% of all cars in 2016. By Q2 2026 that had risen to 8.7%. The shift is even more visible in new registrations, where plug-in vehicles increased from 1.3% of registrations in 2016 to 36.7% in the 12 months to Q2 2026, according to DfT/DVLA data.

Corporate adoption is leading the transition. Plug-in vehicles represented more than 40% of new company car registrations in Q2 2026, compared with 27% for private buyers. As fleet turnover continues, demand for workplace charging is likely to increase, particularly in office locations where employees cannot easily charge at home.

Against this backdrop, workplace charging infrastructure remains relatively limited. Knight Frank's indicative analysis[1] of GB offices found that:

• only around 2% of office car parks currently contain EV charging provision.
• where chargers are present, sites average around three chargers;
• and approximately 90 parking spaces per charger. 

This compares to the European Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) benchmark of: 

• for new or major renovations (with >5 spaces): Office buildings require 1 recharging point per 2 spaces, while other non-residential buildings require 1 per 5 spaces, alongside pre-cabling for at least 50% of spaces and ducting for the remainder;
• for existing non-residential buildings (with >20 spaces): By 1 January 2027, buildings must provide at least 1 recharging point per 10 spaces or ducting for at least 50% of spaces.

While national adoption remains fragmented, this indicates that current UK workplace charging provision remains relatively limited – especially as only around 5% of EU passenger cars are PIV[2].  The question that may therefore become more prominent is whether office charging provision can accommodate future demand and expand over time to remain attractive to occupiers. That shifts attention towards electrical capacity, grid access and the ability to support additional charging infrastructure as occupier requirements evolve. With this aspect having been in the spotlight as a constraint on growth, earlier planning and assessment is needed. 

[1] These figures should be treated as indicative rather than definitive. Identifying the relationship between individual office buildings, car parks and charging locations involves limitations within the underlying datasets, so the results are best used as a market benchmark rather than a precise measure of national provision.
[2] BEV+PHEV https://alternative-fuels-observatory.ec.europa.eu/transport-mode/road/european-union-eu27/vehicles-and-fleet