Vehicle charging points to become mandatory for new builds in Scotland

New buildings with parking spaces will be required to provide charging points for electric vehicles under new Scottish Government plans.

Under the proposals, developers will have to ensure new residential buildings with at least one parking space also provide a charging point.

Non-residential buildings should install one charging point for every ten parking spaces.

Each of the charging points would be required to have at least a 7kW output rating.

A man at the power supply for electric car charging station. charging the battery of the vehicle. Picture: Adobe Stock

Announcing the move on Thursday, transport minister Jenny Gilruth said the Government would introduce legislation to make the changes.

“This step will help future-proof Scotland’s buildings as we transition to a net-zero transport system,” she said during a visit to a building site in Tranent, East Lothian.

“This supports our ambition of phasing out the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 as part of our response to the global climate emergency.

“We’ve already seen private developers delivering EV charge points as part of new builds in Scotland.

“They recognise that charge points are an attractive feature to have and offer convenience as part of a wider charging mix.

“These changes will provide a minimum standard that developers will need to consider going forward.

“We also know that many households will not have access to dedicated parking spaces and that’s why, earlier this year, we announced our £60 million EV Infrastructure Fund, to ensure that all households across Scotland can be confident that EV charging will be local, accessible and that they, too, can switch to zero emission.”

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have previously argued a “massive expansion” in the number of car chargers is needed to help give Scots the confidence to switch to electric vehicles.

The party has said if the more than three million vehicles on the road north of the border are going to be switched to low emission versions, achieving the same ratio would need more than 16,000 new charging points to be built.

Ultra-low emission vehicles range from pure electric models to plug-in hybrids.

The UK is bringing in a ban on sales of new petrol and diesel vehicles in 2030.