Scotland is at the forefront of the country’s switch to greener motoring according to new figures from the Department for Transport.
The figures reveal that from 1 October 2021 to 1 January, Scotland had the highest ratio of publicly accessible rapid charging points for electric vehicles with 12.9 devices per 100,000 residents.
Following Scotland are the South East and North East with 8.6 devices per 100,000 population. The average across all regions was 7.7 per 100,000.
After London with 102 charging devices per 100,000 residents, Scotland had the best accessibility to public (non-rapid) charging points with 52 for every 100,000. The national average is 42 devices per 100,000.
Nationwide, new charging points for public use went up by 9% in the three months to 1 January. There are now 2,448 more available charging devices across the country. Publicly accessible rapid charging devices increased by 233, a 5% rise over the same time period.
This brings the total of publicly accessible charging points nationwide to 28,375, of which 5156 are rapid charging devices.
Greg Wilson, founder of www.quotezone.co.uk’s comments: “It’s likely that Scottish drivers, like those across other parts of the country, are nervous that the 2030 deadline for car dealerships to cease selling new fossil fuel vehicles isn’t that far off and that the infrastructure to charge electric vehicles isn’t ready.
“But this boost in activity in the last three months in Scotland, building on an already established upward trend, is reassuring.
“Let’s hope this pace continues so that Scottish drivers feel the electric option is a valid one, and that barriers to the green motoring revolution such as ‘range fear’ are a thing of the past, with a wide and evenly distributed network of rapid charge and electric charging facilities.”
Tanya Sinclair, Policy Director UK & Ireland at ChargePoint, said: “We welcome the Scottish government’s commitment over the next four years to invest in charging points across the country.
“The investment goes further than just a cash boost and is specifically designed to attract private investment in EV charging, which is what makes this investment really positive for the EV charging sector. In contrast, funds in England are channelled to local authorities who are resource constrained and shouldn’t be expected to provide EV charging on top of the essential services we rely on them for.
“To increase the overall adoption of EVs in the UK, we would encourage the other devolved nations to follow Scotland’s lead to help increase the amount of chargers. The government has earmarked money to solve the issue of rural charging infrastructure but it has not yet been spent.
“Along with this funding, the UK government must also drive the installation of charging stations, as it is vital that chargers are easily accessible throughout the country, not just big cities.
“As well as increased investment in on-street electric car charging, the government must also focus on helping key charging locations such as workplaces electrify in a cost effective manner.
“This needs to be done quickly but correctly – it’s not just about needing a large concentration of charging stations but the speed, location, ease of use and incentives need to be carefully considered.“
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