SWINDON is full of thousands of electric cars - but there's not many public places to charge them.

There are 16 car charging locations in Swindon for its 4,588 electric vehicles according to a study by the BBC's Data Unit. The rate of public charging locations per 1,000 licensed vehicles is 3.5, the second-lowest figure out of every UK area in the study. Only Peterborough has a lower rate of 2.1, with 21 locations for 10,022 vehicles.

The number of charging stations may seem low but Swindon has more than the 40 per cent of local authorities in the UK with 10 or fewer of these points. On average, local motorists with electric cars are only 1.05 miles away from their nearest charger. The amount of electric cars in Swindon increased by a massive 5,708 per cent since the start of the decade - there were only 79 in 2011.

A Swindon Borough Council spokesman said: “Most people charge their electric vehicles at home so a high number of public charging points is not always necessary. We are currently in the process of reviewing our development parking standards, which are due to be formally adopted later this year and will require charging points to be installed in new developments.

“Although the number of people using charging points in the council’s public car parks has risen steadily over the past three years, demand is still low with an average of just over one person a day using each charging point. Each public charging point currently available for use is capable of charging more than one vehicle at a time and more than two vehicles per day.”

After the BBC’s study ended, Arval installed 43 charging points for staff and businesses at its Windmill Hill site. Fleet senior consultant David Watts said: “Electric vehicles, while still around in relatively low numbers, look set to lead the way when it comes to reducing emissions, especially in urban areas. We work largely with businesses and more and more of them are starting to adopt EVs as company cars and vans.

“For the majority of drivers, most EV charging will take place at home with an increasing amount at the workplace and, as battery ranges move towards 200-300 miles, the need for routine top up charging from public points is less. For this reason, the number of public charging points in a particular area is often not as important as their location and their type. A nationwide network of well positioned supercharge hubs that offer rapid charging will be more effective than a larger number of older, slower chargers in the wrong places.

“The situation with the charging network across not just Swindon but the country is changing quickly. More than 1,000 new charge points across more than 600 locations were fitted across the country in the last month alone.

“A significant proportion of drivers will never have the opportunity to charge at home or work and so careful consideration needs to be given as to the most effective positioning and type of local charge point facilities. Simply increasing the number of charge points will not necessarily solve the problem and provide an effective solution."

Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long Bailey pushed for more charging points to be installed at the Honda march last week. She said: “Honda say that they want an electric vehicle market, so let’s give them one.

“Let’s make sure we invest in the infrastructure we need to spur on that investment.

“Charging points in every street in every town, in every village in every city, we should incentivise people to buy electric vehicles and other low-carbon vehicles.”