Thursday, November 7, 2024
Infrastructure and TechnologyLatestNews

£6.3m for Scottish EV charge points

Transport Scotland has announced £6.3m through the Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Fund to support 11 local authorities across Glasgow City Region and Ayrshire region.

It comes as Scotland has hit its 6,000 public EV charge point target two years earlier than planned with more than £65m invested into schemes since 2011. Charge point data provider ZapMap has confirmed Scotland had 6,030 public charge points as of 31 October, delivered through a combination of public and increasing private sector investment.

The Scottish public EV charging vision was published in June 2023 with a commitment to enabling approximately 24,000 additional public charge points by 2030.

It has also provided £5.7 million to support the installation of 18,861 domestic charge points and £10.8 million to support 1,432 higher powered workplace charge points.

First Minister John Swinney said:

“We need to maintain this rapid progress, working in greater partnership with the private sector to accelerate the pace and scale of delivery right across the country.

“By fast-tracking EV infrastructure, we’re paving the way for a net-zero Scotland while advancing our goal to phase out new petrol and diesel cars by 2030.

Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop said:

“Through our £30 million EV Infrastructure Fund we are continuing to support public EV charging; providing local authorities with funding to enable them to work in partnership with the private sector to continue to expand public EV charging across Scotland.

“This approach is paying dividends – ensuring faster delivery and greater reliability of public charge points across the country. I’m pleased to welcome the matched investment from businesses such as IONITY which is helping to scale up the provision of public EV charging across Scotland.”

IONITY Country (UK & Ireland) Manager Andreas Atkins said:

“A continued collaborative approach between the public sector and private industry is required to tackle and deliver the roadmap for net zero transport, and IONITY will continue to play a key role in this.

“We have already injected £20 million investment in Scotland by the end of 2025, with a further £20 million committed into Scotland by 2028 – delivering 100% green electricity through our chargers from Scotland’s main cities to the West Coast and the Highlands.”

Zapmap COO and Co-founder Melanie Shufflebotham said:

“Since the target of 6,000 public EV charge points by 2026 was announced by the Scottish Government in June 2023, charge point infrastructure has grown at an impressive rate – up 49% from 4,023 in June 2023.

“This number covers many different charging use cases across diverse locations, from low powered on-street chargers to destination chargers at scenic spots to 150kW+ charging hubs.

“It’s exciting to see charging hubs being established across the country, from Inverness and Aberdeen in the north to around the urban centres of Glasgow and Edinburgh.”

Susan Aitken, Glasgow City Region Cabinet Chair and Leader of Glasgow City Council said:

“Electric vehicles are to key to reducing carbon emissions and the expanded charging network this funding will deliver can persuade more citizens across the City Region to switch to electric.”

Director of the Electric Vehicle Association Scotland Neil Swanson said:

“Maintaining the momentum on these targets and ensuring that the just transition is delivered is absolutely key.  The rollout of EVIF is critical in rural areas and urban settings to support EV adoption for private and commercial users.”

Image from Shutterstock

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