Cabinet approve Electric Vehicle charge tariff structure

As part of Transport Scotland’s initiative to establish a countrywide charging infrastructure network to enable electric vehicles to be driven throughout Scotland, East Lothian Council received £861,000 grant funding that introduced 43 public charging points over the past two years, with significant further expansion planned. In 2017 the council had seven operational public chargepoints that over a 12-month period incurred electrical charges of £9,850. An increase to 43 chargepoints suggests a potential bill of £60,507 per year if usage remains proportional.

Environment spokesman, Cllr Norman Hampshire, said: “East Lothian Council greatly supports the expansion of the necessary infrastructure to meet the anticipated growth in electric vehicles but it’s recognised that local authorities cannot meet the cost of the electricity costs incurred when charging vehicles. Following discussions with EV owners and benchmarking with other local authorities, East Lothian Council proposed a range of tariffs. These proposals were then discussed more fully with Transport Scotland and Department for Transport before final implementation.

”Charging at the Destination chargepoints will be comparable to the cost of charging at home, while Journey chargepoints, which can rapidly top-up a vehicle, will be a premium service. This means that people without driveways will not have to pay more.”

Following required preparation and technical works necessary to recover tariffs, it’s anticipated a charging regime could be introduced from winter 2019/20. The following tariffs for EV charging will then be operational:

• 30p per kWh for Journey (Rapid) chargepoints (over 43kW)

• 16p per kWh for all other (Destination) chargepoints

• An overstay charge to discourage abuse of the charging spaces

• A minimum charge of £1 per session, which would be waived if the session is interrupted.