SNP ministers hope to double the number of public electric vehicle (EV) charging points in the next few years with a new £60 million fund – but have been warned they will fall short of the 4,000 annual plugs needed to meet growing demand.
Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said half of the money needed to roll out the green infrastructure would come from the private sector.
Speaking in Holyrood, he said the ChargePlace Scotland network currently provided 2,100 public charging points around Scotland, the largest such network in the UK outside of London.
In December, electric cars made up 21.4 per cent of all new car sales.
Mr Matheson said: “By 2030 we might expect there to be between 500,000 and one million electric vehicles and from then it will not be possible to buy a new petrol or diesel car or van.”
READ MORE: ‘Lack of funding clarity’ sparks fears over Edinburgh trams extension plan
Announcing the new fund, he said: “We can anticipate this investment doubling the size of Scotland’s existing network of charging points over the next few years.
“This new fund will draw in and smooth commercial investment so that the future charging network is there to work for everyone.”
The fund would ensure charging points were installed in remote and deprived areas, he said.
In July last year, a report from Transport Scotland said an estimated 30,000 charge points would be needed by 2030 as demand for plug-in vehicles increases.
Scottish Conservative MSP, Liam Kerr, mentioned this report, saying: “That means we need to be installing around 4,000 a year.
“But despite the fact that I stood here in September and made exactly this point, all we have here is an intention to double the network over the next few years.”
Scottish Labour MSP, Colin Smith, said some guidance had suggested a ratio of one public charge point per 10 EVs, meaning between 50,000 and 100,000 could be needed by 2030.
READ MORE: Glasgow Clyde Metro set for go-ahead as headline project in SNP strategy
He said: “Does the Cabinet Secretary accept that today’s announcement won’t deliver 30,000, never mind 50,000, of those public charging points?”
Mr Matheson acknowledged that meeting the demand would be “a significant challenge because it’s a significant piece of infrastructure that needs to be put in place”.
Seeking to double the current number showed the scale of the Government’s ambition, he said.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel