TRANSPORT Scotland has sought to allay fears over the future of charging facilities for drivers of electric vehicles (EVs) after a reader of The National queried the compatibility of new infrastructure with that of the existing ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) network.
Willie Oswald, from Blanefield, has been involved in a lengthy correspondence about the issue, and said he is concerned that with a new company – Swarco – taking over the contract, we could move away from a universal charging network, to “having a plethora of incompatible charging points, as is the case south of the border”.
Now a member of Transport Scotland’s low carbon economy delivery team, Vivian Nairn, who said that although Swarco is a European company, the CPS network office and team will be based in Dundee.
She added: “I am also happy to report that within the new framework agreement there are many benefits that drivers will see, such as a new improved downloadable app and the removal of membership fees.”
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The exchange came as news that EV drivers in East Lothian and Glasgow are set to take part in a new project that could save them money when publicly charging their vehicles.
They are among four areas taking part in the scheme to show how smart technology can be integrated into public EV chargers across the UK, and were chosen because of reported high demand for the facilities, much of it from households without off-street parking and, therefore, a reliance on the public charging network.
Public charging networks are generally more expensive to use than charging at home, but a UK Government-backed project – Agile Streets – is to address that challenge.
This will see dozens of on-street smart chargers installed by Connected Kerb, the first in the UK to incorporate smart metering technology to cut costs by as much as 40% – equivalent to a £290 per year saving.
Smart metering allows EVs to schedule charging at times when energy prices are cheapest, such as overnight when demand is low or on sunny and windy days when there is an abundance of supply due to additional solar and wind energy.
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Connected Kerb CEO Chris Pateman-Jones, said: “Easy access to affordable charging infrastructure is one of the biggest barriers to the uptake of EVs.
“The number of smart energy tariffs has exploded in recent years thanks to increasing demand from EV owners, making charging at home one of the most affordable ways to travel today.
“However, almost half of us don’t have that privilege and instead rely on public charging infrastructure which is often more expensive.
“It is vital that access to affordable energy is equitable across the entire population – driveway or not – and this project does just that, giving drivers in Glasgow and East Lothian without off-street parking the same benefits as everyone else.”
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