Charges for charging to be introduced
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Aberdeenshire Councillors will be asked to approve the introduction of charges for public use of electrical vehicle charging points starting in 2020.
A report to go before members of the Infrastructure Services Committee explains that the uptake of electric vehicles across Scotland has been steadily increasing as the availability of vehicles improves, and manufacturers strive to tackle range issues.
The Scottish Government has committed to continue the roll out of publicly available EV charge points across Scotland which currently stands at over 1000 units.
Aberdeenshire Council has worked positively with funding partners Transport Scotland and has been able to deliver over 50 charging points across the area.
However the costs associated with operating and maintaining the charge points will also continue to increase.
Whilst the initial provision of this electricity at no cost aided the initial move to EV use, continuing to cover the costs of the electricity consumed along with ongoing maintenance costs will create an increasing pressure on the Council budget.
Discussions have taken place with Transport Scotland, Charge Place Scotland (the back-office system operator) and the Electric Vehicle Association (EVA) Scotland regarding implementing cost recovery with confirmation being given that a move towards charging would be welcomed at a strategic level.
Support and guidance has been provided to allow officers to consider charging options based upon other organisations across Scotland where charges apply.
Officers have undertaken a review of charging models used in other Local Authorities and have concluded that incorporating all costs to the Council (energy, maintenance, administrative and management) into the cost per unit of electricity consumed model allows for full cost recovery to be borne equally by all customers based on actual usage.
Under this model, the per energy unit cost to the customer will be made up of three elements:
Annual maintenance costs of around £16k per annum have been fully funded by Transport Scotland for a three-year period as part of the Grant Offer made in 2019 to Aberdeenshire Council; effectively reducing the maintenance costs to zero until March 2022.
On this basis it is proposed that no additional fees are added to charge point usage to cover these costs until March 2022 at which point a review can be undertaken.
Aberdeenshire Council proposes that the cost to the customer be £0.21 per kWh to ensure recovery of costs associated with the operation and management of the EV charger network in Aberdeenshire.
By example - a the cost for using a Council EV charger (£0.21/kWh) verses the cost of using a home EV charger (£0.14/kWh) for a 2018 Nissan Leaf (2018) 40kWh would equate to £8.40 for council charging versus £5.60 at home charging.
For a Tesla Model S 100D 100kWh this equates to £21 versus £14.
It is also being proposed that these costs are reviewed annually and, if the transaction or energy cost varies, then the rate cost to customers will be amended.
In terms of the practicalities of introducing charges, notice is to be provided to Transport Scotland and Charge Place Scotland to grant approval to implement charges and begin the process of driver notification both electronically to existing members and physically with signage to be applied to EV charge posts.
Following councillor approval, officers will engage with Transport Scotland and Charge Place Scotland before the end of the calendar year with a view to full implementation from April 2020.
