Scottish Government EV charging infrastructure targets in tatters?

The transition to EVs feels like one big roller coaster, with loops, drop and twists coming at you faster than you can catch your breath.

Earlier this week we had Sunak announce that the government's flagship move to EV cars was being delayed for five years as the impact on the UK household was going to be too great to meet the earlier target of banning sales of petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030.

The decision has not been welcomed by everyone but at least it places the UK on the same target date as the rest of Europe.

And now the icing on the cake, the Scottish Government's target to have have 30,000 public EV chargers in place by 2030 is not going to be acheved until 2042 - 12 years late!

Following Mr Sunak’s announcement last week, First Minister Humza Yousaf branded the five-year delay “unforgivable”, as he warned the UK Government’s announcement would put Scotland’s target for net zero by 2045 in jeopardy

This latest discovert  comes as figures from ChargePlace Scotland, the charging network owned by the Scottish Government, showed 169 chargers had been added between October 2022 and August 2023. 

Over 4,000 charging points need to be installed every year if the target of 30,000 is to be met by 2030. Simple maths means that Scotland needs a 2,100% increase in the speed of installtion.

The Tory party’s energy and transport spokesman, Douglas Lumsden said: ‘These eye-opening statistics lay bare the fact that this SNP/Green government are miles off delivering electric charging points needed to meet demand across Scotland.

‘It is simply pitiful that fewer than 200 charging points were added to the network over a spell of 10 months.

‘Progress is going at a snail’s pace and that is all too typical of the SNP/Green government’s woeful record on environmental targets.

‘They have failed to meet their emission reduction targets in eight out of the last 12 years and only this week they have had to admit they’ve breached climate laws.

A Transport Scotland spokesperson responded: ‘The Scottish government is currently assessing the implications of the UK government’s decision to backtrack on their commitment to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030.

‘Thanks to the Scottish government’s investment of £65m since 2011 in the development of the ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) network, and increasing commercial investment now taking place across the country, Scotland has the greatest number of rapid or ultra-rapid charge points per head of population, outside of London.

‘There are variations in public charge point distribution across Scotland’s local authorities, and there are many reasons for this, including the availability of private off-street charging opportunities, including home and workplace charge points.

‘In addition to funding over 2,600 charge points on the public CPS network, the Scottish government has increased charging capacity across Scotland by also funding the installation of over 20,000 home and workplace charge points.