Researched and written 17 October 2026. Sources are listed at the end.
A network built street by street
In February 2026 Coventry City Council told the BBC it had installed 2,578 public chargers for electric vehicles, which it describes as the largest public network outside London. Its own pages set out the plan behind them: more than 2,100 on-street charging spaces by the end of 2025, alongside becoming the UK's first all-electric bus city, as part of a wider push on air quality and carbon.
Not every street has one. The same BBC report followed a Whitley resident who had asked since 2024 for a charger in her close and was told the pavement was too narrow, with others available about 450 metres away.
Who runs the chargers
ESB Energy runs 39 rapid chargers across Coventry, with pay-as-you-go, membership and taxi price plans and a live map of its points. Char.gy provides 374 slow and standard residential charge points. Connected Kerb supplies 1,863 standard residential sockets. E.ON has 24 standard chargers and two semi-rapid ones.
The council points motorists to Zapmap, which shows each network on one map with live availability.
What the speeds mean
The council sorts chargers by power. Slow units deliver under 3.5kW and standard ones 3.5kW to 7kW, the kind found on residential streets and lamp-post columns. Fast chargers run from 7kW to 22kW on alternating current, typical of car parks and destinations. Semi-rapid units give 43kW to 44kW on alternating current or 22kW to 50kW on direct current. Rapid and ultra-rapid chargers run on direct current from 50kW upwards. The council notes that 350kW units are starting to appear in the UK.
As a guide from the council, a 7kW charger refills a 30kWh battery in three to five hours and a 22kW one in one to two hours, while a 3kW unit can take six to twelve. Most cars slow their charging once the battery passes about 80%.
Bring the right cable
Rapid chargers have their cables attached, using either the CCS or CHAdeMO connector. At most fast and slow points the socket is untethered, so you plug in your own cable, usually a Type 2, the European standard, though some older cars take a Type 1. Check which connector your car takes before you set off.
Trials for homes without a parking space
The council is testing two ways for residents without off-street parking to charge from their own supply. A cross-pavement gully channel trial, a lockable duct that carries the cable safely across the footpath, is due to finish by the end of the 2025 to 2026 financial year.
A second trial with Trojan Energy fits a flat charger into the pavement outside a home. It is limited to 20 installations, carries a £50 a month subscription for 36 months and lets users pay their home tariff at other Trojan chargers around the city. It runs until the end of the 2026 to 2027 financial year.
Charging while you stay
Every one of our homes has free parking, so the simplest plan is to check Zapmap for the nearest public point before you arrive. The city centre is about 5 minutes by car from the nearest house and Coventry station about 2 miles.
Sources: coventry.gov.uk/roads-highways-pavements/electric-vehicle-charging/print; bbc.com/news/articles/cm24g83dpypo. Distances by road from each house, worked out on OpenStreetMap.
