Tariffs introduced for Edinburgh Council-owned EV charge points

Electric Vehicle owners in Scotland’s capital will soon have to pay to refuel using infrastructure provided by the city, with revenue reinvested in the network. 

Following an agreement made as part of the budget-setting process earlier this year, electric vehicle (EV) charge points owned and operated by the City Council of Edinburgh will have tariffs in place from Sunday 1st May onwards. The local authority is looking to ensure costs for maintenance and further expansion of the system can be covered, at least in part, by users. 

In March, work began to introduce 81 individual chargers, 141 bays, to residential streets and park and ride facilities, all of which are set to become available this summer. The roll-out has been made possible thanks to £2.3m from Transport for Scotland’s Switched On Towns and Cities scheme, but more funding is needed to install more infrastructure to meet growing demand, with this development an essential part of plans to make the city net zero by 2030. Charges and maximum stay periods will depend on charger type, with standard, fast and rapid all on offer. 

‘We’re in the process of introducing even more electric vehicle charging points across the city, which will provide additional fast, convenient charging for people living in and travelling to and from the city,’ said Cllr Lesley Macinnes, Transport and Environment Convener. ‘Increasing this kind of infrastructure is essential for supporting people to make the shift to more sustainable forms of transport, like electric cars… Any income generated from charges introduced next month will help us to maintain and continue developing our charging network.’ 

Cllr Karen Doran, Transport and Environment Vice Convener, added: ‘It’s really encouraging that so many people are choosing to switch to electric vehicles, and we want to help even more people to make this choice. We set costs for using our chargers as part of the budget this year, and tariffs will be clearly displayed on charging points and on our website.’ 

In related news, research from Birmingham City University has shown that proposals to open the UK’s largest EV battery production facility will expose a ‘marked gap’ in the national supply chain. 

Image credit: CHUTTERSNAP