Just one new public charger was built for every 53 electric cars sold last year, putting the adoption of the green vehicles under strain.
Last year was the worst for new charge point installations since 2020, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), with the speed of rollout slowing as the year went on.
Only one charger was installed for every 62 new plug-in hybrid and battery-powered cars sold in the last three months of the year, SMMT said. The ratio is likely to fall further as sales of plug-in cars accelerate.
The industry body expects battery-powered cars and hybrid plug-ins to reach one in four sales this year and almost one in three next year.
SMMT urged the Government to mandate charger installation targets to provide certainty for drivers switching to electric vehicles.
“The industry and market are in transition, but fragile due to a challenging economic outlook, rising living costs and consumer anxiety over new technology,” Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said. “We look to a Budget that will reaffirm the commitment to net zero and provide measures that drive green growth for the sector and the nation.”
While many owners charge their cars cheaply at home, the industry is concerned that a lack of public chargers limits the vehicles’ usefulness to commuting and makes them unattractive to those without drives or garages.
Charging whilst away from home also costs more. The industry said the Government should slash VAT on charge point use from 20pc to 5pc, which is the rate charged on domestic energy.
Ginny Buckley, founder of electric car site Electrifying.com, said there were “signs that private buyers are becoming more reluctant to switch.”
“A lack of confidence in the charging infrastructure and a dearth of affordable models are making many mainstream consumers reluctant to join the electric revolution.”
A recent drop in the price of petrol has narrowed the advantage of owning an electric car. While they cost more than a petrol equivalent upfront, the lower price per mile of an electric car means that they can work out cheaper.
However, this relies on users driving the necessary miles and also making use of cheap overnight electricity prices available on some tariffs.
Charging at home means each mile driven costs about 8 pence compared to 14.6 pence per mile for petrol and 13.3 pence for diesel, according to calculations by the AA.
Those using public chargers are also grappling with new, complicated pricing.
Major networks including Ubitricity, the UK’s largest public charge point operator, and Geniepoint have introduced “dynamic pricing” where users pay extra if they charge at times of day when electricity demand is high.
A quarter of public charge points, excluding rapid and ultra-rapid devices, are now covered by this pricing model, according to research last month from the market analyst Cornwall Insight.
Jamie Hamilton, automotive partner and head of electric vehicles at Deloitte, said: “Consumers often cite price as one of the main barriers to switching to EVs so reducing this, at the same time as improving charging infrastructure access and availability, will make electric vehicle ownership more feasible.”
SMMT said car sales in January rose 15pc to 131,994, marking the best start to the year since January 2020’s pre-coronavirus figure of 149,279. However, sales were propped up by purchases by large fleet operators. Private purchases fell 4.3pc.
Chinese-made cars continue to grow in popularity with MG, the Chinese-owned British marque, topping the January sales chart with its MG HS, a £23,500 crossover SUV.
Car sales for the year are likely to rise 11pc to 1.79m, the SMMT estimated, driven by pent-up demand after two years of constrained supply caused by a shortage of computer chips.
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