Aberdeenshire Council to begin charging for electric charging points

Tariffs for the use of electric vehicle charging points operated by Aberdeenshire Council are to be introduced on January 4, 2021.

During the early implementation of electric vehicle (EV) charging units there was an expectation by Transport Scotland that there would be no charge to the customer to use the EV units to help support a wider uptake of electric vehicles.

However, the volume of charging across Aberdeenshire in 2020 so far has already risen to more than 27,000 kWh compared to 26,000 for the whole of 2019.

This has resulted in an increase in current costs associated with operation and maintenance of the EV charging network and also indicates that there will be a growing pressure on the council budget if no mechanism for cost recovery is put in place.

Last year the council approved the recommended charge of £0.21 per kWh to allow for full cost recovery associated with the operation of public EV charge points.

As transactions and energy costs may vary in time, the council will review the costs annually and amend the charges accordingly.

All customers will be charged once a month for using tariffs, with their invoice broken down into each transaction and will detail the date and time of the charge, the charge point number, site name of the charge point and the cost.

Once the charges go live on January 4, tariffs can be viewed at https://chargeplacescotland.org/live-map/

Head of Transportation Ewan Wallace said: “Electric vehicle usage is increasing across Aberdeenshire with the number of charging sessions exceeding 2019 rates for July, August and September."

“Although the initial provision of electricity on a no-cost basis to motorists will have aided the early move to electric vehicle use, Aberdeenshire Council cannot continue to cover the electricity consumption costs and ongoing maintenance costs.”