Coventry is the best city to drive an electric vehicle in the United Kingdom in 2022, Forbes Advisor concluded. The financial guidance company revealed a list of the 10 best cities – and in contrast the 10 worst cities – having evaluated some of the most populated in the county. It then ranked all the cities numerically.
The ranks were based on four factors. The cost of charging an electric car at home, the number of standard chargers per 100,000 people, the number of rapid chargers per 100,000 people, and the number of rapid chargers per electric vehicle in each area. Cities scored an ‘electric vehicle accessibility rating’ out of 80 points.
Best cities
Coventry took top spot on the best list with 70 points. It was followed by Sunderland in second spot with 67, Newcastle in third with 63, Leeds in fourth with 56, and Middlesbrough in fifth with 52 points. Reading, London, Sheffield, Glasgow, and Cardiff finished the top 10 with 49, 49, 46, 44 and 39 points respectively.
Electric cars increasingly popular
Motorists are likely to note these results with interest as cleaner, fully electric, zero emission cars have become more popular throughout the United Kingdom. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said that 27,705 were registered new in 2021, compared to 21,914 the previous year. That was a rise of 26.4%. Market share increased from 16.5% in 2020 to 25.5% for 2021.
The Tesla Model 3 was the best selling fully electric car in the United Kingdom, in 2021. It was also the second best selling car of any fuel source. It did not even make the top 10 the previous year.
Forbes Advisor Car Insurance Expert, Kevin Pratt, expects such trends to continue long term. He said: ‘We expect more electric vehicles on the road as we approach the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles. That means we need to see acceleration in the number and distribution of charging points so that drivers can enjoy easy access to the power they need’, Mr Pratt emphasised.
Worst cities
Leicester topped the list of the 10 worst cities to drive an electric car. It scored 26 from 80 points. It was followed by Portsmouth in second with 27, Belfast in third with 27, Liverpool in fourth with 27, and Stoke-on-Trent in fifth with 27. Edinburgh, Bournemouth, Birmingham, Manchester, and Brighton finished the list of the worst cities with 32, 32, 35, 37 and 38 points respectively.