Charging an electric car in the Cotswolds

Charge in the towns, not the villages. The fastest public chargers in the Cotswolds are InstaVolt's eight 160kW units at Burford on the A40, with 50kW rapids in the council car parks at Moreton-in-Marsh on the A429 and the Beeches in Cirencester. Elsewhere the councils have slow 7kW posts in their town car parks, good for a long lunch or overnight, and the attractions and inns listed below have chargers of their own. Bibury, the Slaughters and most villages have none. Everything here is from the councils' and operators' own pages on 27 October 2026; check live status in the app first.

The council car parks

Cotswold District Council (opens in a new tab) has 7kW chargers run by Connected Kerb at Rissington Road in Bourton-on-the-Water (eight bays, one for Blue Badge holders), Maugersbury Road in Stow-on-the-Wold (four), West Street in Tetbury (six), and the Brewery (ten) and Trinity Road (eight) car parks in Cirencester. You start and pay for the charge in the Connected Kerb app, which shows the price per kWh, and you pay for parking as well, except at Trinity Road, where the bays are free to park in and you pay only for the electricity. The rapids are Blink's 50kW units at the Beeches in Cirencester and Old Market Way in Moreton; pay at the charger or in the EB GO app. A car in an EV bay that is not charging can be fined, and the council warns that fake QR codes have been stuck on some signs, so scan only the one on the council's own sign.

West Oxfordshire (opens in a new tab) had 74 charging bays in six car parks by September 2024, among them twelve at Hensington Road in Woodstock and more at New Street in Chipping Norton; Woolgate in Witney added 75kW rapids at 64p a kWh and 7kW posts at 48p (prices when they opened in 2024). Its car parks are free to park in; Burford's is not one of the six with chargers. Stroud District has four charging bays at Stamages Lane in Painswick and four at New Market Road in Nailsworth. In Broadway the only council chargers are at the station car park: four bays on Swarco's Evolt network, paid by contactless or in the Swarco app.

Rapid chargers on the main roads

On the A40 the InstaVolt site at Windrush Heights (opens in a new tab), just off the road at Burford (OX18 4BF), has eight 160kW CCS chargers, open around the clock; InstaVolt lists it at 92p a kWh (2026). Believ plans six 240kW bays at Firehouse Oxford near Witney, which it expects to open early in 2027. On the A429 the Fosse Way has the council's rapids at Moreton and Cirencester and nothing between them. On the A419 south of Cirencester the Gateway Café (opens in a new tab), opposite the Cotswold Water Park at South Cerney, has two Mer ultra-rapid chargers of up to 200kW, with contactless payment. We found no rapid charger on the A417 itself between Cirencester and the M5, so charge before you climb to Birdlip.

At attractions, hotels and pubs

Our listings record chargers at these places, mostly for visitors and guests. The National Trust has eight at Hidcote and six 11kW chargers at Snowshill Manor, both in free car parks, and chargers in the Hither Way car park at Lacock. Blenheim Palace has them at the Woodstock Gate, and the Organic Farm Shop outside Cirencester has its own. Among the inns and hotels, Lords of the Manor has six, paid in the Monta app, the Manor House at Castle Combe six at the hotel and four at the golf club, and the Butchers Arms at Sheepscombe, near Painswick, two 7kW posts on Monta. The King's Head at Bledington asks you to book a time on its charger. The Bell at Sapperton, the Lamb at Great Rissington, the Priory Inn in Tetbury, the Punchbowl in Woodstock, the Swan at Ascott-under-Wychwood, the Tavern at Kemble, Abbots Grange in Broadway and Whatley Manor near Malmesbury all have at least one. Ask about it, and the price, when you book.

Apps, payment and the honest gaps

Since November 2024 every public charger of 50kW or more must take a contactless bank card and show its price in pence per kWh, under the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 (opens in a new tab). The 7kW posts in the car parks fall below the 8kW line for that rule, so download the Connected Kerb, EB GO and Evolt apps and set up payment before you leave home. A 7kW post adds about 7kWh an hour, roughly 20 to 25 miles of range on a typical car, so it is a top-up, not a fill. The gaps are the villages, the Coln and Windrush valleys between the towns, and rapid charging on the A429 between Cirencester and Moreton, where Bourton and Stow have only 7kW posts. Northleach and Bibury have no public charger on the councils' lists.