Edinburgh council to start charging motorists for the use of electric-vehicle chargers

The City of Edinburgh Council is to begin charging motorists for the use of its city-wide electric charging points.

The local authority began installing charging points last year, with the first phase seeing six rapid-charging bays and 30 slow-charging bays built at Ingliston Park and Ride followed by a further 20 at Hermiston Park and Ride in December.

It was initially free to use the bays but the council, which was awarded £2.3m from Transport Scotland to pay for another 141 bays, agreed to introduce charges when setting its budget earlier this year.

As of 1 May there will be a minimum fee of £1 to use the chargers plus 25p per kilowatt hour at standard chargers and 35p per kilowatt hour at rapid chargers.

Drivers will be allowed to leave their cars plugged in for a maximum of 12 hours at standard chargers and a maximum of 30 minutes at rapid ones and a £30 fee will be charged for breaching those limits.

The council said that all money raised from the chargers will be used to “fund the ongoing costs associated with our electric-vehicle charging infrastructure”.

The authority’s transport and environment convener Lesley Macinnes said: “We’re in the process of introducing even more electric vehicle charging points across the city, which will provide additional fast, convenient charging for people living in and travelling to and from the city.

“Increasing this kind of infrastructure is essential for supporting people to make the shift to more sustainable forms of transport, like electric cars, which is vital if we are to become net zero by 2030.

“Any income generated from charges introduced next month will help us to maintain and continue developing our charging network.”

Vice-convener Karen Doran added: “It’s really encouraging that so many people are choosing to switch to electric vehicles, and we want to help even more people to make this choice.

“We set costs for using our chargers as part of the budget this year, and tariffs will be clearly displayed on charging points and on our website.”