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The search for a charger is likely to be particularly bad in swathes of the south. In fact, Luton will have only one charger available for every 10,956 cars - the worst projected ratio of EVs per rapid charger in the UK.

West Berkshire will have a similarly poor level of availability, as each charger will need to be shared between 10,222 drivers.

This emerges despite the ban on new petrol and diesel car sales, which is set to come in from 2030, highlighting that the country’s infrastructure may struggle to accommodate electric vehicles.

It's predicted Luton will be the worst place in the UK to charge an electric car in 2031

Last year, there were 266 electric vehicles (EVs) to each public charger in the UK, but the insurance comparison site says this will rise to 527 cars per charger by 2031. This means that charger availability will be almost half of what it was in 2021.

The reason for this is that the rate of new charger installations won’t be fast enough to keep up with the uptake of EVs over the next decade. So, despite more charger installations, the number of EVs purchased will outweigh the rate new charging units are fit. As a result, there’ll be a worse ratio of chargers to EVs, making it much harder to find somewhere to power up.

Melanie Shufflebotham, Co-founder & COO of Zap-Map (the UK’s leading charging app for EV drivers), said: “We’re seeing significant investment on this front from the private sector, with companies such as GRIDSERVE Electric Highway, InstaVolt, MFG EV Power and Osprey in the process of rolling out hundreds of high-power charging hubs up and down the country.

”However, much more can still be done, especially in areas such as Wales and Northern Ireland, not to mention alleviating pinch points on major trunk roads and motorways.”

Dorset and Scottish regions are among the best places to own an EV in 2031

In contrast to Luton, EV drivers in Dorset will have a charger available for every 16 cars, making this the best place in the country for electric car charging.

Lutontoday has approached Luton Borough Council for a comment.

Luton predicted to be worst place in the UK for charging electric cars