Quarter of EV charging points faulty, investigation finds
The issues included broken plugs and screens on the charging units being offline.
Almost one in four of Scotland’s public charging points for electric vehicles (EVs) failed to work properly when examined as part of an investigation.
Over a six-week period in August and September, 535 of the 2,200 chargers installed using Scottish Government cash had problems working, according to research led by the BBC.
The issues included broken plugs and screens on the units being offline.
The information was gathered using the ChargePlace Scotland App to check the charging points’ status.
The majority of EV chargers are owned by councils, who were surveyed in the investigation.
Their answers showed the worst performing units were in the Scottish Borders, where every single charger had logged a fault.
Highland, West Lothian and East Dunbartonshire councils had issues on more than 94% of their machines.
Transport Scotland (TS) claims the Scottish Government-owned network was used successfully 1.7 million times by EV drivers last year.
But the national transport agency acknowledged there may be issues with availability of the units.
A TS spokesperson said: “We haven’t been provided with the full data ahead of broadcast and so cannot yet verify the findings put forward by the BBC, but we will carefully consider this analysis alongside our own data.
“The network operator has worked hard to improve reliability and we are now seeing the benefits of this approach, with an overall up-time of between 95% and 97%.
“However, we want it to be even better, which is why reliability, alongside accessibility and availability, are at the heart of our draft vision for Scotland’s public electric vehicle charging network.”
It has been reported about half of Scottish councils offer charging for free.
But this can lead to congestion compared to units where tariffs are applied.
The TS spokesperson added: “Most local authorities have already removed free charging tariffs and by working with partners to create the conditions for more private sector investment, coupled with our new public EV infrastructure fund, we can deliver public charging infrastructure which supports the 18,000 domestic and business charge points already delivered as part of Scotland’s wider charging mix.”
New petrol and diesel cars are to be banned by 2030, prompting a predicted sharp rise in EVs in Scotland – which will all need a place to charge.
Earlier this year, the Scottish Government said it will legislate to ensure developers provide EV charge points in the construction of new residential and non-residential buildings.
Visit Scotland last month announced that 194 charge points are to be installed at 92 tourism businesses across the country, which tourism minister Ivan McKee said will help people explore Scotland in a more environmentally-friendly manner.
