external view of sercvice station

We’re On The Hunt For The World’s First Service Station Tester…

With the summer holidays in full swing and many families hitting the roads for a summer trip, many people will be stopping at one of the nation’s many service stations, which are used day and night by drivers all over the country. Providing respite, fuel and often a well-needed snack and toilet break, many drivers in the UK will have a favourite service station that they love to stop at on a long journey.

motorway services sign

But which UK service stations are the best and busiest? We’ve reviewed data from service stations up and down the country to find out. As more and more drivers convert to electric vehicles (EVs), we’ve also revealed the service stations which are best equipped for those driving EVs too.

To find this out, we’ve analysed data from an EV database, as well as Google reviews for nearly 90 service stations across the country, looking at metrics including the number of EV chargers, the number of ‘check-ins’ per charger, the average review score from EV drivers, and the average Google review score from all drivers. These metrics were then analysed using an index scoring system to allocate each service station a score of out 100, thereby revealing the busiest and best serviced stations for EV drivers, and drivers overall.

In addition, to see if our data study accurately reflects the real experience of drivers visiting service stations this summer, we will also be hiring one lucky driver as a ‘Service Station Tester’. Interested? Find all the information for this dream job below.

The Top 25 Best Service Stations For EV Drivers

electric car charging point

Our research showed that of all motorway service stations in the UK, Swansea’s Moto service station on the M4 is the best service station in the UK for EV drivers, with the services scoring 86 out of a possible 100, thanks to its high number of chargers, lower check-ins per charger and overall Plugscore – a score developed by EV platform PlugShare to reveal how positive (or negative) electric vehicle owners’ interactions have been with a certain EV charging point.  

Reading’s M4 services follows closely in second place, with a total index score of 85, with Hilton Park services in Staffordshire completing the top three with 81 points overall. Rounding off the top five service stations are Exeter services on the M5 (scoring 79) and Heston services on the M4 in Greater London (scoring 77).

With three of its service stations ranking in the top five, and five within the top 25, the M4 is the best serviced motorway in the country, which should put any EV drivers’ minds at ease if traveling on the high-traffic corridor between London and Wales.

The longest motorway in the UK, the M6, featured five times in the top 25, with service stations including Hilton Park, Keele, Charnock Richard, Corley and Tebay ranking as some of the best reviewed rest points for those driving an electric vehicle.

RankService stationMotorwayRegionNo. of chargersCheck-ins per chargerPlugscoreTotal score
1SwanseaM4Swansea32710.086
2ReadingM4Berkshire64108.785
3Hilton ParkM6Staffordshire48127.981
4ExeterM5Devon40169.579
5HestonM4Greater London49108.377
6Grantham NorthA1Lincolnshire38279.877
7Newport PagnellM1Buckinghamshire251410.076
8WashingtonA1(M)Tyne and Wear27910.075
9FerrybridgeM62West Yorkshire293110.073
10Hartshead MoorM62West Yorkshire37228.073
11MichaelwoodM5Gloucestershire28188.772
12WarwickM40Warwickshire27339.672
13MemburyM4Berkshire253910.071
14KeeleM6Staffordshire233310.071
15Hopwood ParkM42Worcestershire21119.570
16OxfordM40Oxfordshire22119.269
17Leigh DelamereM4Wiltshire30159.068
18Charnock RichardM6Lancashire23308.968
19AbingtonM74South Lanarkshire20238.467
20Severn ViewM48Gloucestershire131010.067
21BlythA1(M)Nottinghamshire18228.566
22WoodallM1South Yorkshire26428.066
23CorleyM6Warwickshire30428.066
24TebayM6Cumbria30228.766
25CullomptonM5Devon91210.064

The Top 25 Worst Service Stations For EV Drivers

At the other end of scale, we also wanted to reveal the worst equipped service stations for electric vehicle drivers. The M1’s Leicester Forest East ranked as the worst service station, with a score of just 35 out of 100. With a shockingly low Plugscore, and over 125 check-ins per 12 chargers available on average, the Leicestershire based station ranks as the worst of all stations analysed. Following behind in second and third place, each scoring just 38 out of 100 was Norton Canes service station, based on the M6 toll, and Bridgwater services, found on the M5, with the latter recording on average 126 check-ins per two chargers available.

motorway service station entrance

With a Plugscore of just 3.5, Northampton services ranked in fourth position, while Peartree in Oxfordshire rounded off the top five with an overall score of 45.

The M1 and M5 were the lowest scoring motorways for EV drivers, with five service stations located on each motorway ranking in the top 25 worst stations, including the M5’s Taunton Deane (12th position with a score of 49) and the M1’s London Gateway (24th position with a score of 52).

RankService stationMotorwayRegionNo. of chargersCheck-ins per chargerPlugscoreTotal score
1Leicester Forest EastM1Leicestershire101521.034
2Norton CanesM6 TollStaffordshire6612.638
3BridgwaterM5Somerset21267.038
4NorthamptonM1Northamptonshire6943.539
5PeartreeA34Oxfordshire3806.245
6Skelton LakeM1 J45West Yorkshire62810.046
7ChieveleyM4Berkshire513410.046
8TamworthM42Staffordshire4966.746
9StrenshamM5Worcestershire5636.848
10Taunton DeaneM5Somerset6456.849
11KnutsfordM6Cheshire12426.049
12DurhamA1(M)County Durham3937.949
13BaldockA1(M)Hertfordshire10318.250
14Annandale WaterA74(M)Dumfries and Galloway3687.950
15South MimmsM25Hertfordshire21387.551
16FrankleyM5Worcestershire6768.251
17HamiltonM74South Lanarkshire3357.951
18Port AbrahamM4Carmarthenshire3377.951
19StirlingM9 / M80Stirling4518.351
20CobhamM25Surrey12556.851
21MagorM4Monmouthshire3798.952
22TibshelfM1Derbyshire7778.352
23PeterboroughA1(M)Cambridgeshire105210.052
24RownhamsM27Hampshire8638.352
25London GatewayM1Greater London5408.453

The Top 10 Busiest Service Stations for EV Drivers

Any EV driver will know how important it is to plan in regular stops on a long road trip, to charge your vehicle. With many drivers having to queue for significant lengths of time during peak travel periods, we wanted to find out which service stations you would most likely need to queue at in order to re-charge.

Doncaster North services on the M18 in South Yorkshire was revealed as the busiest service station for EVs, with 157 check-ins made for every charger – of which there are only four in total – at the site. Donington Park on the M1 doesn’t fair much better, with 141 check-ins per charger, with Chieveley on the M4 ranking in third with 134 check-ins for each of its 5 charging points.

electric car with charging cable

Service stations including the M1’s Leicester Forest East (127 check-ins per charger), the M5’s Bridgewater (126 check-ins per charger) and the M56’s Chester (126 check-ins per charger) all also ranked in the top ten. However, it was the M1 which was the motorway with the longest queues, with Donington Park, Leicester Forest East and Northampton all ranking in the top ten.

RankService stationMotorwayRegionNo. of check-ins per charger
1Doncaster NorthM18South Yorkshire157
2Donington ParkM1Leicestershire141
3ChieveleyM4Berkshire134
4Leicester Forest EastM1Leicestershire127
5BridgwaterM5Somerset126
6ChesterM56Cheshire112
7TamworthM42Staffordshire96
8NorthamptonM1Northamptonshire94
9DurhamA1(M)County Durham93
10PeartreeA34Oxfordshire80

The Best Reviewed Service Stations for All Drivers

Not every driver has made the move over to driving electric vehicles, and so in addition to EV provisions we also looked at Google review ratings for each service station, to reveal how each station is generally regarded amongst drivers.

Gloucester services is ranked as the best service station overall, scoring 4.5 out of 5. Famed for its sleek design and high-quality farm shop and food offerings, the service station has become a firm favourite of many drivers, particularly with those venturing south towards Devon and Cornwall. Its sister service station Tebay in Cumbria ranks in second place with a score of 4.4 – this station was the original service station in the Westmorland duo and was the first family-owned motorway stop in the country.

Baldock services on the A1(M), Beaconsfield and Oxford (both on the M40) follow behind, all tied with a score of 4.1.

RankService stationMotorwayRegionGoogle review rating
1GloucesterM5Gloucestershire4.5
2TebayM6Cumbria4.4
=3BaldockA1(M)Hertfordshire4.1
=3BeaconsfieldM40Buckinghamshire4.1
=3OxfordM40Oxfordshire4.1
=4CambridgeA14Cambridgeshire4
=4CobhamM25Surrey4
=4Killington LakeM6Cumbria4
=4Gretna GreenA74(M)Dumfries and Galloway4
=4FleetM3Hampshire4

We’re Hiring For The World’s First Service Station Tester!

There are so many factors to consider when planning a stop on a long journey, from EV charger access to food options and facilities onsite. Hopefully our research will help you to plan the service station which best suits your journey and needs, but we want to find out whether our data matches up to real-life experiences at some of the country’s busiest and most-loved service stations.

external view of sercvice station

This is why we’re hiring for a brand new ‘Service Station Tester’ role, where one lucky person will be rewarded with £500 for reviewing the EV facilities available, including the number of chargers and how busy they are, as well as the overall cleanliness, busyness and range of other facilities on offer.

JOB DESCRIPTION

If you love a pit stop at a service station while on a road trip, then this is what the job entails:

  • £500 salary to cover fuel costs, snacks and other supplies
  • Visit some of the nation’s best and busiest service stations
  • Rate and review the service stations you visit and report back to us
  • Enjoy!

JOB REQUIREMENTS

  • Must be able to get themselves to and from each service station
  • Strong enthusiasm for service stations
  • Must hold a full UK driving license

HOW TO APPLY

Applications for the Service Station Tester role have now closed. Winners were contacted the week commencing 2nd October 2023.

Methodology

To find out the best and worst service stations for EVs, we created a long list of UK service stations through manual desk research. The average review of each service station was then taken from Google. Plugshare was then used to compile the number of chargers, number of plug types, PlugScore and number of check-ins for each service station. Where multiple sites were listed for each service station (for example – on the North and Southbound carriageways of a motorway), the number of plugs, plug types and check-ins was totalled across both sites, while the average PlugScore was calculated. These metrics were then analysed using an index scoring system to allocate each service station a score out of 100.

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