Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

EV charging to be implemented by Highland Council in a matter of weeks

Highland councillors have agreed to impose tariffs on their EV charging points
Highland councillors have agreed to impose tariffs on their EV charging points

Highland councillors have agreed to charge for use of their EV charging network by June, and set tariffs among the highest in Scotland.

The council is joining other local authorities in starting to charge for the service, but at 30p per KWh, the tariff is higher than the others, except for Midlothian.

A fee of 20p per kWH for slower charging is also slightly higher than most other authorities.

At this week’s economy and infrastructure meeting, climate change and energy team manager Jackie Sayer told councillors that the current network of 50 EV chargers in Highland is cost the council £50,000 last year – a bill that could potentially double as the network expands and the number of EVs on the roads continues to grow.

She said the fees were primarily to cover the costs to the council of the electricity and manpower needed to maintain and administer the network.

Any surplus will be reinvested into the network.

“The number of EVs on the roads in the UK last year doubled last year and we’re expecting that to rise further.

“We’ve learned from other local authorities who have gone before us and adopt what at this stage appears to be good practice.

“We’ve made sure our approach is fully endorsed by the community interest company Electric Vehicle Association Scotland which represents the interests of EV users in Scotland.”

She pointed out the many uncertainties surrounding future EV charge point usage and cost, as many owners start to opt to charge at home.

“It’s hard to predict what the usage will be over the coming year, so we are recommending that an annual review to make sure the system remains fair, simple and sustainable.

“Where other councils have introduced a tariffs there have been changes in usage.

“It’s important for us to gather data during the next few months and be able to reflect on what the changes are, and how our model compares to the usage.

“We don’t want to undercut the commercial rate at the moment, which is about 30 pence.”

Highland Council’s EV charging network has been grant-funded by Transport Scotland, with an initial condition of keeping them free to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles, but now the Scottish Government is encouraging local authorities to move to a more sustainable model.

The councillors agreed that charges were necessary, but councillor Andrew Jarvie questioned the wisdom of a 30p charge.

He said he feared the high cost would be a disincentive.

He said: “Even as an electric car sceptic they are part of the future and we need to encourage uptake.

“Charging twice what you are at home is a disincentive.

“Where is this huge private sector charging network we are at risk of competing with?

“The council is the largest charging network in the Highlands and what it does makes a difference.

“This is still a new technology with low uptake and it needs encouraged.

“Charging the same as people pay for electricity at home is the most sensible option.”