Introduction

Scotland’s public EV charging landscape stands at a critical juncture. The Scottish Government took the bold step of funding early development ahead of demand to provide early EV adopters with the confidence to transition to EVs. As EV uptake scales towards mass market adoption, the private sector is increasingly taking the lead in funding public EV charging infrastructure for cars and vans. Driven by record private investment, public EV charging infrastructure in Scotland grew by 49% between June 2023 and October 2024, with over 1,984 public charge points added to the network in just 16 months.

In 2023, the Scottish Government set out a strong vision for public EV charging in Scotland. We set out the attributes the network of the future needs to have: a network which is comprehensive and convenient, meets the needs of users, is grown with private investment, powered by clean, green energy and complements the wider sustainable transport system. Reaching this vision of the network will require close collaboration between key stakeholders across the public and private sectors.

This draft Vision Implementation Plan has been developed drawing on input from key stakeholders including: charge point operators; energy distribution network operators; local authorities, and their representative groups, including the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the Scottish Collaboration of Transportation Specialists (SCOTS); the UK Government; and statutory bodies including the UK Competition and Markets Authority and Ofgem, and the voices of EV drivers via the Electric Vehicle Association Scotland and Consumer Scotland.

It sets out a route map to guide collaboration across all stakeholders, to achieve the vision and to enable the delivery of approximately 24,000 additional public charge points by 2030. The draft Implementation Plan details proposed actions to be taken by key stakeholders in the short and medium term.

A list of consultation questions is provided at the end of the document.

Published alongside this draft Plan is a draft Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) that considers the impacts of the Plan.

The purpose of this document

In June 2023, the Scottish Government published its Vision for Scotland’s Public Electric Vehicle Charging Network. The Vision set out what an ideal public charging offer for cars and vans in Scotland should look like. Realising this Vision will require the collective efforts of a broad range of stakeholders, this draft Implementation Plan provides a route map and a draft set of actions for delivering this Vision and the charging infrastructure Scotland will need in the future, from Scotland’s cities to its rural and island communities.

Extensive engagement was undertaken to support the development of the Scottish Government’s Vision for public EV charging and this draft Implementation Plan has been developed following additional engagement with key stakeholders that share collective responsibility for delivering public EV charging in Scotland. Following the publication of this draft Plan, a consultation will take place before the final Vision Implementation Plan is published later in 2025.

The Scottish Government will monitor the delivery of the finalised actions on an ongoing basis and will review progress in 2028.

Policy context

Transport Scotland’s purpose is to deliver the Scottish Government’s vision for transport, as set out in the 2020 National Transport Strategy 2 (please note that the term Scottish Government covers both core government as well as its agencies, such as Transport Scotland).

The Vision and this draft Implementation Plan sit within a broader landscape of Scottish Government policies. This draft Implementation Plan contains actions for the Scottish Government that implement these parent policies and strategies:

  • National Transport Strategy 2 (NTS 2), 2020.
  • Climate Change Plan Update (CCPu), 2020.
  • Strategic Transport Projects Review (STPR 2), 2022.
  • Reducing car use for a healthier fairer and greener Scotland, 2022.
  • National Planning Framework (NPF4), 2023.

Document structure

This document outlines the proposed actions required to deliver Scotland’s Vision for the public EV charging network, a route map to approximately 24,000 additional public charge points by 2030, while identifying clear roles of stakeholders.

To place these actions in context, the document then provides an overview of the development of public EV charging to date and a snapshot of public EV charging provision today.

The document goes on to provide background detail on the existing composition of the public charge point infrastructure, charging technologies, details on levels of current and forecasted EV demand, as well as the regulatory landscape and the present consumer experience of EV charging. It looks at different EV adoption scenarios and key challenges and opportunities, all of which have been taken into consideration when developing the proposed actions.

Finally, the document includes eight consultation questions, the responses to which will aid us in developing a final Vision Implementation Plan as well as guidance on how you can provide your responses to this consultation.

The transition to EVs and the provision of public EV charging is a technically complex, and rapidly evolving area. Nevertheless, this draft Implementation Plan has been written with the aim of avoiding jargon and acronyms wherever possible with a view to ensuring that the subject matter is as accessible as it can be.