Ultra-Rapid Hubs Redefine the UK’s Charging Race

As charger growth slows to roughly 14–16k new installs in 2025, ultra-rapid hubs are emerging as the UK’s answer to queues, uptime concerns, and grid limits

23 Jan 2026

The UK’s electric vehicle charging market is moving into a more measured phase, with operators shifting attention from rapid expansion to reliability and performance as public charger growth slows.

That change is most evident in the rise of ultra-rapid charging hubs. These sites group multiple high-powered chargers in a single location, allowing more vehicles to charge at once and reducing the risk of queues or broken equipment. The aim is to provide charging that drivers can rely on during peak periods, rather than scattering individual units across many sites.

Osprey Charging, one of the country’s largest rapid charging operators, has highlighted a strategy centred on larger, grid-ready hubs with high uptime. The company has positioned such sites as the core of its rapid and ultra-rapid network, rather than relying on single chargers at dispersed locations.

Industry trackers and company disclosures consistently rank Osprey among the UK’s biggest rapid charging networks. That reflects a wider shift in the market, where scale and operational reliability are becoming more important than headline charger numbers. A hub with multiple working chargers offers redundancy, lowering the chance that drivers arrive to find equipment out of service or long waits.

The move comes as the pace of new installations eases. Verified infrastructure data and national reporting suggest that about 14,000 to 16,000 new public chargers were added across the UK in 2025, the weakest annual growth since 2022. Higher construction costs, planning delays and difficulties securing grid connections have all slowed deployment.

EV adoption, however, continues to rise, putting pressure on existing infrastructure. With fewer chargers being installed each year, operators are being pushed to extract more value from each site. Ultra-rapid hubs are increasingly used as anchor locations on major routes, supporting higher utilisation and providing more predictable charging experiences.

Constraints remain, particularly around access to power and the cost of grid upgrades. But the direction of travel is clear. The UK charging market is moving away from growth at any cost and towards infrastructure designed to feel dependable and scalable for mainstream drivers.

If the trend continues, success in the next phase of EV charging may be judged less by the total number of chargers installed and more by which networks can make charging consistently straightforward.