South Ayrshire Council along with East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire Councils, is set to introduce a new EV charging tariff from 1 April 2024.*
The tariff below will apply at all public Electric Vehicle Charging Points (EVCP) across Ayrshire:
• Fast /AC (7kW): £0.31 per kWh
• Fast /AC (22kW): £0.31 per kWh
• Rapid /DC (50kW): £0.37 per kWh.(with a minimum spend of £5)
From empty, a 7kW Fast /AC charger should take approximately 4-6 hours to recharge a battery. While a 22kW Fast /AC charger should take 1-2 hours. A Rapid /DC 50kW charger should completely recharge a battery in under an hour.
There are currently 35 public EVCPs at 30 locations across South Ayrshire. Some of the charging points have been affected by frequent overstays, so penalties will also be introduced from 1 April, to ensure charging points are available for others to use.
For overstays on a Fast /AC charger, there will be a £30 penalty after 5 hours between 8:00am and 10:00pm.
For Rapid /DC chargers, a £30 penalty will apply after the first hour between 8:00am and 10:00pm.
There is currently no EV charging tariff within South Ayrshire for the use of public EVCPs. In 2022/23, the Council spent approximately £500,000 on the electricity supply at public-facing and fleet charging points.
The introduction of the tariff at EVCPs will cover the public electricity cost and operation and replacement.
Councillor Bob Pollock, Economic Development Portfolio Holder for South Ayrshire Council said:
"With more electric vehicles on our roads, and a Scottish Government commitment to phase out new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2035, we need to build our EV charging network, which the new tariff will help us achieve.
"EV driving should be encouraged, so we're charging 37 pence per kWh at a rapid charging station which is 13 pence cheaper than the Scottish local authority average.
"We continue to support the transition to greener forms of transportation while helping to build and support a thriving economy."
When the new tariff arrives on 1 April 2024, members of the public will continue to use their Chargeplace Scotland card to access the charger network. Their bank details are assigned to their card and debited by SWARCO who operate the charging units.
The development of a network of chargers throughout South Ayrshire has been largely funded through Transport Scotland's annual Charge Place Scotland (CPS) grants, however other sources of funding have been used in recent years.
*This decision may be subject to call-ins (decisions can be called in for scrutiny by other Councillors prior to implementation)