A roads chief has insisted that councils cannot continue to foot the bill for charging electric vehicles.
South and East Ayrshire Councils currently cover the electricity cost for residents’ charging their cars at public charging points.
Kevin Braidwood, head of Ayrshire Roads Alliance, outlined plans to bring an EV (Electric Vehicle) charging strategy back to council after the recess at South Ayrshire Council’s Partnerships Panel.
Prestwick Independent councillor Hugh Hunter asked Mr Braidwood for an overview of the situation.
Cllr Hunter said: “On the need for more charging points for electric vehicles, that is one of the internal challenges that you have.
“I am wondering how that was going to be addressed and what consultation will be taking place with various stakeholders, police, fire, local businesses and supermarkets.
“How are we going to address this? ”
Mr Braidwood replied: “We have carried out some consultation on EV charging and we are in a partnership with Scott Futures Trust and Transport Scotland to develop a strategy for public electric vehicle charging across the three Ayrshires.”
Both South and East Ayrshire have provided £60,000 apiece to develop the strategy.
Mr Braidwood explained that a South Ayrshire EV charging strategy was brought before the previous administration.
He continued: “However, things have moved on in terms of where the Scottish Government wants to go with public EV charging. I will have to come back with a revised paper and hope to do that after recess.”
The strategy would require approval from the councils prior to being taken to the Scottish Futures Trust and Transport Scotland.
Mr Braidwood added: “What we are looking at is a private partnership for EV charging, where we would hand over EV chargers to the public sector, where they would manage and maintain and put in new chargers.
“The Scottish Government is keen that the private sector gets heavily involved.”
Part of the strategy would look at partnership working with the fire, police and health services. Mr Braidwood gave an example of a community health centre which, when closed in the evening, would have a bank of EV chargers.
He added that another key challenge was getting charging facilities to residents who stay in flats.
“There is currently no legislation as to how cables can be run across footways etc.”
“At the end of the day, Ayrshire Roads Alliance can’t be a fuel station for residents of South Ayrshire or East Ayrshire.
“At the moment we are covering the cost for electricity from our EV chargers.”
Don't miss the latest Ayrshire headlines – sign up to our free daily newsletter here
