Brand-new EV charging bays are now up and running at Ingliston Park and Ride in Edinburgh and work is underway to install chargers around the Scottish city as part of plans to introduce 81 on-street chargers serving 141 parking bays.
There are 21 chargers at Ingliston – six rapid across six charging bays and 15 slow across 30 bays. Another five rapid chargers – across five bays – and 14 slow chargers – across 28 bays – will soon be operational at Hermiston Park and Ride.
Preliminary work is also underway to install an additional 41 rapid and fast chargers – amounting to 72 charging bays – at on-street locations in residential areas around the Scottish capital for use by early summer.
The rollout is being funded by £2.2m awarded through Transport Scotland’s Switched on Towns and Cities Challenge Fund.
Councillor Lesley Macinnes, transport and environment convener, City of Edinburgh Council, said: “These new chargers will provide convenient charging for people travelling in and out of Edinburgh, and very soon we’ll be delivering fast, accessible charge points in residential streets around the city too.
“The transition to clean, low-emission transport like electric vehicles is critical if we are to meet our net zero 2030 target, alongside choosing walking, wheeling, cycling or taking public transport to get around.
“It’s our role to support and encourage this so it’s fantastic that we’re now rolling out electric vehicle charging infrastructure across Edinburgh.”
While the use of existing chargers is currently free, charging tariffs, as agreed by the City of Edinburgh Council as part of the budget-setting process, are to be introduced in May. Any revenue generated will be used to fund the ongoing costs associated with the council’s EV charging infrastructure.
The council is currently looking at future locations for EV chargers using data from two Energy Savings Trust studies and has developed a scoring framework. As part of this, several potential new locations for chargers have been identified for investigation, subject to funding.
