Warwick crowned UK’s most EV-friendly staycation in new Ageas study

• New study from Ageas celebrates the nation’s EV-friendly tourism hotspots
• Betws-y-Coed (Wales), Pitlochry (Scotland), and Enniskillen (Northern Ireland) lead the regional rankings
• Alfriston offers the lowest average charging cost at £0.28 per kWh

Warwick has been named the UK’s top staycation spot for electric vehicle (EV) drivers, according to a new study by car insurance provider Ageas.

The research, which analysed 100 popular towns and villages across the UK, ranked each location based on their charging infrastructure, cost-efficiency, charger reliability, and the density of local points of interest. The study highlights the destinations setting the gold standard for sustainable tourism, helping the UK’s growing community of EV drivers plan stress-free getaways. Scores reflect relative performance across the locations analysed rather than an absolute measure of EV infrastructure quality.

Warwick takes the top spot, with a score of 100/100. The historic town was recognised for its exceptional balance of culture and connectivity, boasting 254 points of interest and a robust network of 74 EV chargers within a 5km radius.

Following closely in second place is Shanklin on the Isle of Wight (91/100), proving that island getaways are more accessible for electric motorists. Alfriston in East Sussex (89/100) rounded out the top three, driven by its low average charging costs and a high proportion of rapid and ultra‑rapid chargers.

The study also highlighted the highest‑ranked destinations in each nation, with Betws-y-Coed (85/100), Pitlochry (73/100) and Enniskillen (79/100) taking the top spots for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Beyond the nationwide and regional rankings, several locations were recognised for excellence in specific categories:

• Best for budget: Alfriston offers the lowest average rate at £0.28 per kWh
• Best for reliability: St Ives achieved a near-perfect 96% reliability rating for its charging network based on user‑reported operational status data
• Best for speed: Bamburgh and Tobermory offer the fastest charging, with 100% of their stations featuring rapid or ultra rapid charging
• Best for accommodation: Holy Island and Lynmouth present the top accommodation options, with 33% and 23% of their hotels offering on-site EV charging facilities

Alan MacEwan, Chief Customer and Operations Officer at Ageas UK, commented on the findings:

“As more motorists make the switch to electric, the Great British staycation is undergoing an exciting transformation. Our study celebrates the towns and villages that are paving the way for the future of travel. Destinations like Warwick, Shanklin, and Betws-y-Coed are not just beautiful places to visit; they are leading the nation in making sustainable travel easy, affordable, and accessible. We want to shine a light on these EV-friendly locations and encourage drivers to explore the UK with confidence.”

The UK’s 20 most EV-friendly staycations

_{*Average prices are indicative and may vary by network, charger type and time of use. As prices may vary, not all chargers charge per KWh, time-based pricing.}

_{Methodology
This study ranks 100 well-known staycation destinations in the UK for EV owners, based on tourism appeal and electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure. Six metrics were used:}

• _{Total 'points of interest’ (within a 5 km radius)}
• _{Total public EV chargers (within a 5 km radius)}
• _{Percentage of rapid/ultra-rapid chargers}
• _{Charger reliability}
• _{Average charging cost per kWh}
• _{Percentage of hotels with on-site EV charging}

_{All metrics were normalised and combined into a single score, weighted equally, to generate a final ranking.}

_{Data sources}

• _{Points of Interest: OpenStreetMap (OSM) – nodes, ways, and relations tagged as: tourism, historic, leisure (park), or tourism (museum).}
• _{Public EV Chargers (total & rapid): Open Charge Map API - retrieved number of standard and rapid/ultra-rapid connectors per location using latitude/longitude coordinates.}
• _{Charger Reliability: Open Charge Map user data - percentage of operational connectors per site.}
• _{Average Charing Cost: Open Charge Map - mean price per kWh per settlement. Missing data was recorded as null.}
• _{Hotels with EV charging: Manually populated, using percentage of total Booking.com listings for each location which mention on-site EV charging.}

_Caveats

• _{OSM data: Points of interest figures rely on user-contributed OSM data, so some attractions might be missing. The data included from OSM covered a broad range of categories such as museums, landmarks, viewpoints, theme parks, leisure facilities and more. This ensures the ranking reflects the 'density' of things to see and do, rather than just major paid attractions.}
• _{Open Charge Map coverage: Charger counts, reliability and cost are sourced from Open Charge Map, which may not include every public charger. Rapid charger percentages are reliant on necessary data being recorded in the platform.}
• _{Hotels with EV charging: Accuracy depends on hotels including a filter for "Electric vehicle charging station" in their listing.}
• _{Location list: Seed list of original 100 staycation destinations was built using existing editorial lists and tourism guides, avoiding major cities and instead focussing on smaller destinations.}