The Scottish Government is providing over £7 million across Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council, The Highland Council, Moray Council and Dundee City Council to encourage greater private investment in the electric vehicle (EV) charging network.

In line with the Scottish Government’s vision for the public electric vehicle charging network, significant private investment will be required to grow the network and pace and scale. This funding is targeted in a way which draws in private sector investment, with a particular focus on more rural areas of Scotland, which is reflected in the financial awards.

The funding will enable local authorities to work with the private sector to continue to grow Scotland’s public EV charging network. This is achieved through partnership working with the private sector to operate existing EV charge points and deliver new EV charge points. The benefits for the public will be the introduction of more new and more reliable EV charge points across Scotland – supporting the Scottish Government’s commitment to phasing out the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, reducing transport emissions and protecting the climate.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop said: “I’m pleased that the Scottish Government is providing over £7 million in targeted support to attract in further private investment in our publicly accessible electric vehicle charging network.

“The scale of our ambition to decarbonise transport cannot be met alone and I expect that our commitment for approximately 24,000 additional public charge points by 2030 will largely be met by the private sector. This can only happen, however, if the conditions exist to support this investment – which is exactly what our Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund is working to achieve and with a particular focus in our rural and island communities.”