Council to introduce tariffs for public EV chargers
North Lanarkshire Council will introduce tariffs on public electric vehicle (EV) charging points from 1 January 2023.
The council operates 122 charging points as part of the Scottish Government’s Charge Place Scotland network. Their installation was funded by Transport Scotland and, to date, there has been no charge to drivers for the energy used, to encourage uptake of EVs.
The council only met the costs for the initial roll-out of the programme to encourage take-up. As all road-users pay (fuel/electricity) to power their vehicles, it is now introducing a tariff to cover the electricity used and the ongoing operational costs of the charging points. This is in line with most other local authorities.
“Since July 2021, we have seen a rapidly rising number of drivers using the network of electric vehicle charging points in North Lanarkshire which indicates more people are choosing electric vehicles,” said Councillor Helen Loughran, Convener of the Environment and Climate Change Committee. “This is a positive development, which will help reduce carbon emissions and contribute to the council’s target of net zero by 2030.
“However, the cost to the council of the energy being used cannot be sustained. By recovering the energy and running costs from drivers, we will be able to attract further investment to install more EV charging points to meet the increasing demand.”
The number of drivers using the EV charging points in North Lanarkshire has increased from 253 in July 2021 to 4,099 in September 2022.
The level of tariff will be set by the council ahead of their introduction on 1 January 2023, and measures introduced to prevent vehicles remaining longer than necessary in the charging bays, to make them available to as many drivers are possible.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.
