EV charging poised to contribute £15.5 billion to UK economy over a decade
- ChargeUK
- 11 hours ago
- 5 min read
EV charging sector growth will provide the foundation for a £385 billion UK economic contribution from transport electrification and employ 35,700 directly whilst enabling 334,000 additional jobs across the EV sector
A stable ZEV Mandate is key to unlocking the prize, as weakening of the government’s EV sales quotas could halve charge point operator investment over the critical next five years
However, there is a £5.7 billion additional infrastructure investment upside opportunity if government chooses to implement measures that deliver affordable charging for all
The UK EV charging sector can deliver £15.5 billion in direct value to the economy by 2035 and enable a huge twenty-five-fold multiplier as the foundation for the £385 billion economic opportunity of wider transport electrification, a new report by industry analysts LCP Delta has shown.
The more than 12,000 EV charging jobs which exist today can scale to 35,700 which doubles to 71,500 including induced and across the industry’s nationwide supply chain. The sector can also enable 334,000 across the EV sector, including automotive and battery manufacturing, retail and servicing.
LCP Delta’s report ‘Powering a decade of growth: the economic impact of UK EV charging’, commissioned by charging industry association ChargeUK, provides analysis on the EV transition’s critical ten years ahead, charting the charging sector’s 2025-2035 pathway to profitability and its maturity into a major employer and economic force.
Key findings include:
Economic value – the sector’s economic contribution is expected to increase 15-fold to 2035, maturing from pre-profit to a significant £2.5 billion* in direct added value annually, totalling £15.5 billion by 2035.
Multiplier effect – unlocked by charging, the wider EV sector has the potential to be worth a huge £385 billion to the UK over the decade as manufacturing of EVs and batteries, servicing and retail grows. A multiplier effect of twenty-five. At £27bn in annual economic value the EV sector in 2035 is expected to be similar in scale to the telecommunications (£35bn), broadcasting (£37bn) or water and waste (£30bn) industries today.
Revenue – EV charging has a £2.5 billion annual turnover today, a figure expected to climb to over £8 billion yearly by 2035 as both EV adoption and charging investment grow.
Investment – the industry spent £587 million in infrastructure capital in 2025 as it continued to invest ahead of demand and pre-profitability. This figure is expected to reach £8.4 billion over the decade and the analysis indicates the industry could attract £30 billion in external investment as margins improve and assets increase in value.
Jobs – there are currently 12,000 people directly employed by the UK EV charging sector, a figure anticipated to more than double to 35,700 by 2035 as highly skilled, above-average wage jobs are created around the country. Including indirect jobs enabled through the sector’s supply chain and induced effects, this figure doubles again to 71,500 with a total of 334,000 anticipated across the EV sector.
Supplementary to LCP Delta’s report, which is based on the analysts’ forecasts assuming current government policy with no further changes to the ZEV Mandate (which sets EV sales quotas), a survey of ChargeUK’s members sheds light on the conditions required to unlock this economic opportunity.
The automotive sector is currently calling for more changes to the ZEV mandate, further to the flexibilities introduced and extended in 2025. The mandate is currently under consideration as part of a planned review due to conclude in early 2027. The survey asked about how changes would affect investment over the next five years – especially critical as the charging sector navigates to profitability and the UK reaches its 2030 deadline for 80 per cent sales of electric cars.
Charge point operators’ responses show that investment could halve—a potential reduction of up to £2 billion in capital expenditure on infrastructure rollout—with a knock-on impact on the UK’s ability to seize the £385bn transport electrification prize.
However, if action is taken to address the cost of public EV charging, including VAT equalisation with home charging and relief from fixed energy costs—which would also improve operator margins and utilisation rates—then operators’ responses indicated an investment upside of as much as £5.7 billion in the same period. This is an opportunity to supercharge the transition not only with greater infrastructure investment but lower driver prices leading to increased EV adoption.
A strengthening of the ZEV mandate, such as reversing the flexibilities which were introduced in 2025 allowing for manufacturers to borrow credits and sell more plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, has the potential to accelerate charging investment by 40 per cent in the next five years.
Vicky Read, chief executive, ChargeUK said:
“The EV charging sector is already a British success story with more than 1.7 million chargers, including over 120,000 on the public network. This is the infrastructure that has made the sale of two million EVs possible.
“This new report shows that this success is just the start. There is a huge jobs and growth opportunity ahead, not just for our sector but for EV charging as a foundation for a globally competitive automotive industry, for a secure energy system, and for transport choices that deliver cheaper, cleaner driving. But the industry, which is pre-profit, is at an inflection point. Upcoming policy decisions are pivotal in determining whether it can deliver that growth.
“Government now has to choose. It can once again fold to voices calling for a slower transition, locking drivers into high petrol prices for longer and collapsing charging investment. Or double down to supercharge the transition with a stable ZEV mandate and lower cost public charging. This is the chance to unlock real growth and deliver a massive economic prize which improves the country’s energy security, health and climate impact.”
John Murray, head of EVs, LCP Delta said:
“Our analysis highlights the vast scale of the economic growth and job opportunities that the EV charging sector represents, unlocking up to £385 billion of GVA by 2035. As a cornerstone of the UK's EV transition, the charging sector requires a clear and predictable pathway for growth — one that supports continued investment, keeps pace with rising demand, and enables operators to build sustainable businesses.
“As the market matures and utilisation increases, EV charging networks will increasingly generate the stable, long-term cashflows associated with infrastructure assets, attracting further investment from institutional and infrastructure investors.
“With a supportive and predictable policy framework, a future in which drivers benefit from a highly reliable charging experience, delivered by commercially sustainable businesses that contribute significantly to the UK economy — both directly and through wider multiplier effects — is well within reach."
*All figures Net Present Value.
ENDS
Methodology
Direct GVA
GVA = EBITDA + Staff Costs used as an approximation for GVA for the charging sector.
The bottom-up dataset used for the charging sector analysis is based upon the financial data provided on Companies House, in combination with data provided by ChargeUK’s members.
Sample data is scaled to market size using market share estimates.
Existing government GVA for the auto-sector is used as a base to forecast the GVA for the wider EV sector.
Economy wide GVA
Input-Output multipliers applied to direct GVA.
Indirect (supply chain) x 0.6 - GVA generated in supplier industries.
Induced (employee spending) x 0.4 – GVA from wage spending in wider economy.
NPV and forecast
Forecast horizon 2026-2035, anchored to LCP Delta’s EV and charger forecasts.
LCP Delta’s expertise in market standards, processes, costs and revenues for the charger rollout are used in conjunction with the company level analysis.
A linear approach is taken for the sector moving to profitability.
All figures have been discounted at 3.5% (using the UK Government Greenbook guidance) to represent them at the net present value (NPV).
