Across Scotland there are more than 38,000 ultra-low emission vehicles on the road but only 1,856 public charging points, or one for every 20.8 vehicles, the party said.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats 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.

The party also said there were an average of 30 faults every day on the charging network.

The Lib Dems have called for more electric charging points across Scotland

Sanne Dijkstra-Downie, the party’s net zero spokesman and an Edinburgh councillor, said: “These figures show that charging stations are few and far between, and when you do find one there’s a good chance it might either be broken down or already occupied.”

She added: “To give people confidence that they will always be able to charge electric cars when they need to, we need a massive expansion of our car-charging network with thousands of additional public charging stations in every urban and rural corner of Scotland.

“That’s the level of ambition and drive that will be necessary for the transition away from fossil fuel-powered cars.”

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.

In the City of Edinburgh Council area there were 67 public chargers as of September 2021, while in the Glasgow City Council region there were 151.

There were 92 registered in the Dundee City Council area, while Fife Council had 84 within its boundaries, and Angus had 60.

As well as the 1,856 public chargers, there are another 219 charge points owned by private companies, the Scottish Liberal Democrats said. Figures for these are not available on a local authority level.

Massive expansion in car chargers needed in Scotland, say Lib Dems

Comments