The council operates 122 charging points as part of the Scottish Government’s Charge Place Scotland network. Their installation was funded by Transport Scotland and, to date, there has been no charge to drivers for the energy used, to encourage uptake of electric vehicles.

The council only met the costs for the initial roll-out of the programme to encourage take-up. As all road-users pay (fuel/electricity) to power their vehicles, it is now introducing a tariff to cover the electricity used and the ongoing operational costs of the charging points. This is in line with most other local authorities.

UPDATE: The tariffs will be 27p per kWH for standard and fast chargers, and 40p per kWH for rapid chargers with a £30 overstay fee after 60 minutes. 

“Since July 2021, we have seen a rapidly rising number of drivers using the network of electric vehicle charging points in North Lanarkshire which indicates more people are choosing electric vehicles,” said Councillor Helen Loughran, Convener of the Environment and Climate Change Committee.

“This is a positive development, which will help reduce carbon emissions and contribute to the council’s target of net zero by 2030.

“However, the cost to the council of the energy being used cannot be sustained so the energy and running costs will be recovered via the tariffs.”

The number of drivers using the EV charging points in North Lanarkshire has increased from 253 in July 2021 to 4,099 in September 2022.