Edinburgh starts rolling out 81 new electric vehicle charging points

New electric vehicle charging bays are up and running at Ingliston park-and-ride as work gets underway to install chargers around the Capital.

Let us know what you think and join the conversation at the bottom of this article.

Transport convener Lesley Macinnes visited Ingliston to try out one of 21 chargers – six rapid, each serving one bay, and 15 slow, serving 30 charging bays.

She was joined by representatives of the Electric Vehicle Association and Scottish Electric Vehicle Drivers.

Another five rapid chargers (five bays) and 14 slow chargers (28 bays) will soon be operational at Hermiston Park and Ride.

And 41 rapid and fast on-street chargers, serving 72 parking bays, are due to be introduced in residential areas throughout the city by early summer.

Slow chargers are estimated to take around eight hours for a full charge, while fast chargers take about three hours and rapid chargers about 30 minutes.

The roll-out, designed to encourage and support the take-up of cleaner, low emission transport, is being funded by £2.2 million awarded through Transport Scotland’s Switched on Towns and Cities Challenge Fund.

From left: Transport convener Lesley Macinnes; Neil Swanson, Electric Vehicle Association; Ross Macdougall, Scottish Electric Vehicle Drivers; Heather Kennedy, Scottish Electric Vehicle Drivers.

Councillor Macinnes said: "These new chargers will provide convenient charging for people travelling in and out of the Capital, and very soon we’ll be delivering fast, accessible charge points in residential streets around the city too.

“The transition to clean, low emission transport like electric vehicles is critical if we are to meet our ambitious net zero 2030 target, alongside choosing walking, wheeling, cycling or taking public transport to get around. It’s our role to support and encourage this so it’s fantastic that we’re now rolling out electric vehicle charging infrastructure across Edinburgh.”

Vice-convener Karen Doran added: “This marks the start of an ambitious, strategic programme to install charging points across the city which will soon benefit thousands of people.

“Electric vehicles both help to lower our carbon footprint and limit air pollution, so it’s really encouraging that more and more people are making the switch to electric cars.”

And Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth said she was pleased to see Scottish Government investment of £2.2 million delivering new electric vehicle charging infrastructure across Edinburgh.

“Our Switched on Towns and Cities funding is transforming Edinburgh's provision of charge points, not only at key park and ride sites, but also through 72 new on-street charging bays at various locations across the city.

“This will improve air quality and protect our climate, directly supporting our commitment to phasing out the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030.”

The council said while the use of existing chargers was currently free, charges are due to be introduced in May. Any revenue generated will be used to fund the ongoing costs associated with our electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

It said it was looking at future locations for electric vehicle chargers using data from two Energy Savings Trust studies and have developed a scoring framework. As part of this several potential new locations for chargers had been identified for investigation, subject to funding.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.