Drivers are to be charged for the use of public electric vehicle chargers across East Renfrewshire.
The move is being considered as Transport Scotland has indicated free public charging is “holding back” private sector investment, council officials have said.
Rates of 38p per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for standard chargers (7kW and 22kW) and 54p per kWh for rapid (50kW) units are proposed.
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A concessionary tariff is planned for residents that do not have access to off-street parking so can’t install home chargers. They could be charged 28p/kWh – the average domestic electricity cost in the UK.
However, council officials warned these indicative tariffs have been calculated using data from July this year and “extremely volatile” energy prices mean they will be reviewed before the charges are introduced.
The total bill to run and maintain the 11 council-owned chargers is estimated to be just over £120,000 per year. It includes contingency for additional, unforeseen maintenance and repairs.
The proposed roll-out will go before East Renfrewshire’s cabinet on Thursday, with councillors asked to approve the principle of introducing tariffs on public charging infrastructure.
They will also be asked to consider applying an overstay charge, which would initially be capped at £45.
For standard chargers, the overstay charge would be £1 per minute after 180 minutes, with a 10 minute grace period, and for rapid chargers, it would be £1 per minute after 60 minutes, with the 10 minute grace period.
East Renfrewshire’s publicly-owned charging infrastructure was installed between 2015 and this year, using funding from Transport Scotland. However, no further funding rounds are expected and the repairs or replacement for units were not covered.
“The older chargers are now failing, requiring repairs or complete replacement,” officials have said.
Free charging was initially offered to encourage car owners to move to electric vehicles, however officials reported that Transport Scotland had now indicated councils providing free public charging is “preventing private sector investment and holding back the growth of EV chargers.”
A report said council rates “should not undercut private sector operators rates as that would almost certainly prevent private investment which is crucial to the development of the EV charging network.”
Fees are being considered due to the cost to the council of the electricity, annual maintenance of the chargers and the expansion of the network. The absence of tariffs is also leading to users overstaying, officials have said, as well as hindering the uptake of home charging options for residents who could install them.
The report continued: “The cost to the council for running the publicly available EV charging infrastructure, and for providing free EV charging to users is already high.
“With the plans to expand the network, associated costs will also increase. Tariffs therefore need to be introduced to ensure a financially sustainable EV charging network.”
It stated 17 of 32 Scottish councils have already introduced tariffs.
The Scottish Government has announced plans for a £60 million fund over four years so councils can develop charging infrastructure.
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