Number of drivers using West Lothian electric chargers…

Number of drivers using West Lothian electric chargers drops steeply after motorists made to pay

Use of electric vehicle (EV) charging points in West Lothian dropped by two-thirds last month with the introduction of tariffs for drivers.

Peter Rogers, energy & climate change manager, told the environment and sustainability policy development and scrutiny panel (PDSP) today the drop was not unexpected but the number of users was likely to rise as more people buy electric cars.

Almost all neighbouring authorities have either introduced or reviewed tariffs for EV charging.

In a report to the panel, Mr Rogers said: “The introduction of tariffs for the use of public chargers has led to a significant drop in network utilisation.”

DON'T MISS:

Huge queues for Edinburgh pub seen before 9am as revellers prepare for St Patrick’s Day

West Lothian park and ride plan deadline pushed back with bus services to continue

East Lothian 'drunk driver' arrested after 'stumbling around' while changing wheel

Committee papers showed a drop in usage of EV charging stations from 33 per cent in January to 11 per cent in February when the charges were introduced.

In January there were 8,363 charging sessions with 1,776 unique users. In February this dropped to 3,496 sessions and 1,616 unique users.

Mr Rogers added: “As anticipated, the implementation of overstay fees has had a significant positive impact on the availability of charging facilities and officers will continue to monitor usage over the coming months.

"This information has also been provided to the consultants developing an infrastructure plan to consider as part of their calculations in relation to future infrastructure requirements.”

A number of authorities have either implemented or reviewed their tariffs recently. West Lothian Council’s current tariffs are 30p/kWh for standard/fast chargers and 40p/kWh for rapid chargers.

East Lothian recently introduced a peak and off peak charging trial with costs of 25p for off peak and 35p for peak between 4pm and 8pm for fast chargers.

There are tariffs of 40p for off peak and 50p between 4pm and 8pm for the rapid chargers.

Neighbouring councils charge between 69p/kWh for rapid chargers , in Falkirk; 40p/kWh in North Lanarkshire and 35p/kWh in Stirling.

A public survey of opinions on EV charging will end later this month with the full details of the responses brought to the June meeting of the PDSP.

Mr Rogers told the meeting: “Work has progressed considerably on the infrastructure plan, including the completion of a West Lothian wide survey of drivers which received over 700 responses. It is anticipated that the plan will be completed by 31 March and will be presented to the June meeting of the panel for review.”

Answering questions, Mr Rogers told the panel that the tariffs would not generate a regular income stream for the council but would allow the council to upgrade the equipment some of which , particularly the more heavily used rapid chargers, is coming to the end of its operational life.

Funding generated will also go towards the development of the network. The council currently has 34 charging sites. There are around 50 sites in West Lothian, capable of charging 91 vehicles, with the others commercially provided.

Responses to the public survey will be used to guide the development of the network. Mr Rogers told the meeting that responses so far included 70 per cent coming from EV owners and 30 per cent from non owners.