Nationally 1-in-20 locations have fallen victim to criminals, risking public trust in network reliability and safety as government accelerates expansion and investment.
Data obtained through a Freedom of Information act has prompted calls for a dedicated task force to protect electric vehicle charge points, made up of police forces, local government, industry, and political groups like the Electric Vehicle All Party Parliamentary Group. More than 30olice forces across England contributed to the research, which revealed more than 200 individual incidents of theft and vandalism at charge points, costing millions in damages.
Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire were the worst affected regions, accounting for around 100 criminal acts since 2022. However, it is believed many events have gone unreported, while 40% of the law enforcement departments approached for information were unable to provide data or had no system for recording this type of criminality.
‘While we are far from crisis mode, this research is a warning sign that action needs to be taken to bring EV criminals to book,’said Paz Sharma, Managing Director of leading charge point operator Allego UK. ‘It’s not about the £25 scrap metal value or even the cost of replacing damaged chargers which runs into thousands of pounds – it’s about giving the nation the best chance of securing its clean transport future.
‘Unfortunately, we believe this to be a much more serious problem than the figures indicate, as our FOI investigation flagged that a number of police forces were not in a position to provide information on such incidents,’ Sharma continued. ‘Based on what we hear from the industry and the prevalence of unreported cases, I wouldn’t be surprised if as many as one in twenty charging sites are being targeted.’
The figures have been published as Downing Street presses on with measures to speed up the UK’s transition to EVs, including almost £70million for accessibility and planning reform to make it easier to install charge points. The government has a target of 300,000 charge points by 2030. September 2025 set a new record for pure battery electric vehicle sales, with the Society of Motor Manufacturers reporting 73,000 purchases in a single month.
Image: Allego
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