The powers that be may be keen for us all to park our gas guzzlers for clean, green electric machines, but the world of electric cars might not be as practical as we'd like just yet.

While battery-powered vehicles may be cheaper to run and maintain compared to their petrol- and diesel-powered cousins, the European Union isn't yet the perfect place to charge them and keep them going because more than three quarters (76 percent) of the EU's charging points are concentrated across just four countries – the Netherlands, Germany, France and the UK. What's more, those countries only make up 27 percent of the Union's total area, and with Britain set to leave the EU at the start of next year that number (at least in the short term) will decrease, too.

 
Fastned charging station for electric cars in the Netherlands

The country with the most dense concentration of electric vehicle charging points in the EU is currently the Netherlands, where 28 percent of charging points cover one percent of the total area of the EU. The Netherlands also has solid fast charging networks like Fastned.

Electric vehicle charging in street

There is currently around 100,000 charging points the in the European Union according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA), and that number should multiply at least 20 times by 2025 giving the EU 20 million charging points to handle the anticipated rise in sales of plug-in cars. To meet that target, 1.9 million charging points need to be produced and sold within 7 years.

Electric car charging port in UK

Meanwhile in the UK a new large-scale battery and electric vehicle supercharging hub will be built close to the M6 motorway, the longest motorway in Britain. The move will increase Britain's number of charging points from around 16,500 nationwide to at least 100,000 in the next two years to satisfy demand.