Looks like the good days are going for us in Scotland!

[Tonybvi]

There is a report in today’s Press & Journal that Aberdeenshire Council is proposing to do away with the free EV charging points and start charging 21p/KWh to help cover operating costs. It seems they are taking a decision next week.

 

[mmca22gr]

probably good news.
Ireland (north and south on the same network) are doing the same.
The investment will be welcome as there is nothing more frustrating than going to a rapid charger on the motorway to find some local using it because it is free.

 

[Jason71]

There is a report in today’s Press & Journal that Aberdeenshire Council is proposing to do away with the free EV charging points and start charging 21p/KWh to help cover operating costs. It seems they are taking a decision next week.

Sounds reasonable given the electric is probably 15p. 6p to cover operating costs still makes it one of the cheapest around.
The problem with free is people use it instead of charging at home so blocks it for the people who really need it i.e. those with no home charger or on road trips.

 

[WannabeOwner]

Free as a kickstart is OK with me, but not beyond that. "Free" is always abused ... doesn't have to be expensive

 

[booyaka76]

There is a model 3 near me that for the last 4/5 weeks plugs into a 22kw charger in a local car park, walks away, then comes back and picks it up in the morning.

I see it a lot in the mornings at 6/6.30am whilst my kids are at swim training etc. Also when walking the dog at night time - it's parked up.

That's were "free" charging is all wrong.

There is only 2 chargers in the car park

 

[Subevo]

Public chargers should adopt idling fees to stop people overstaying .the amount of folk who leave the car on charge all day is a joke.
Free charging is part of the reason I went electric to offset the Huge expense of buying a Tesla (justified by man maths.)

 

[Mr Miserable]

BP Chargemaster introduced their 150kWh chargers with free charging.
You can find them by joining the end of the queue of taxis.

 

[MrBadger]

So being used for a very significant benefit.

 

[Roy W.]

There is a report in today’s Press & Journal that Aberdeenshire Council is proposing to do away with the free EV charging points and start charging 21p/KWh to help cover operating costs. It seems they are taking a decision next week.

I can completely understand introducing charges for chargers, particularly as the councils are becoming more and more squeezed for funds.

I hear what you’re all saying, about free being abused etc, but on my two Scottish one week holidays this year (Skye & Jedburgh) I used numerous free CPS chargers and never saw a single other EV!

 

[Tonybvi]

I agree that charging seems a fair way to go but, like Roy W, and I live in a Scotland, I have never seen a charge point being abused. I went to Ballater today and occupied one of the two charge points there for a 2 hour charge (30 to 70kw) and nobody else was there for all that time. My local chargers in Banchory always seem to have at least one, and very often two, of the two chargers completely unused.

 

[Rob R]

Charging at a rate close to the domestic rate is perfectly fair. What we need to worry about is oil companies charging (or planning to charge) ten times that price, combining profiteering with discouraging electric cars. Which is, in my view, why they got into the charging game in the first place.