Concerns have been raised that Argyll and Bute does not have the infrastructure to cope with the expected rise in electric vehicles in Scotland.
Cllr William Sinclair voiced his fears after a report outlined the expected demands for the council from the increase.
Transport Scotland has estimated that up to one million electric vehicles will be on Scotland’s roads by 2030, which means an extra 30,000 charging points will be needed across the country.
The discussion took place at a meeting of the council’s environment, development and infrastructure committee on Thursday.
A report in advance of the meeting said: “Argyll and Bute Council currently has 28 public electric vehicle charging points which users now need to pay for using.
“There is a growing demand for installation of more charging points as electric vehicle numbers on our road network rise. This drives greater demand for availability of charging points in line with customer expectations.
“The existing and proposed new network installations will also require adequate maintenance aligned with regular inspection regime to ensure charging points are functioning properly to meet growing demand.
“This will require resource and budget moving forward and likely staff training due to the specialist technical nature of the apparatus.”
Cllr Sinclair said: “I have had a couple of emails recently saying that the main charging point in Dunoon is faulty, which is not a surprise.
“I am really concerned that we just do not have the capacity to deal with things. In my area we have the busiest car ferry terminal in Scotland, and we have a big holiday park, which recently won an award.
“But there is little access to electric vehicle charging points. The year 2030 is not that far away, and we do not have the infrastructure to cope.”
Jim Smith, the council’s head of roads and amenity services, said: “We reported on electric vehicle charging points to the last EDI committee and will report again on where we are.
“We have secured about £800,000 through the Scottish Government’s ongoing piece of work. We are in discussion with private sector colleagues about installation of privately funded charging points, rather than just the council and Scottish Government.
“But there is a significant increase in electric vehicles and we are working through that.”
Leave a Reply