Costs of installing a charger ranged from £350 to £700 for the slowest type that take several hours to power up an electric car, to as much as £100,000 for versions which can top up a battery in 20 minutes.

Almost six in 10 councils that responded said they received no funding from the Government for chargers during the year.

Huge regional variations in spending on chargers were also unearthed. London authorities spent an average of almost £205,000 on chargers, more than double the rest of England at £70,000.

The London borough of Westminster already has the highest number of chargers at 390 per 100,000 people, or one charger per 500,000 miles driven in the area.

This compares with a UK-wide average of one charger per 14.8m miles driven and Greater Manchester at one per 30m miles. 

Mr Beart said: “There will always be disparities between regions, and greater demand among some councils than others. However, the reality is that every single area of the UK needs to be prepared for universal EV ownership.”