As the lockdown in Scotland begins to ease through a phased approach, we are seeing more drivers making use of the public charging network. ChargePlace Scotland are working to ensure the service is operating and available.

While we are beginning to see new charge points being added to the network, we recommend that EV drivers continue to follow travel advice. Safety and welfare are our priority and we are continuing to take steps to protect our team, members and suppliers.

We have been working hard to support our members and ensure the network remains available to use, and have prepared this guidance to provide updates about key developments across the network.

Network availability

When the lockdown was first introduced, we saw a 75% reduction in utilisation of charge points as the government introduced guidance for essential travel only during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have been closely monitoring the network and providing Transport Scotland with regular reports around network utilisation. This has included advising of charge points that have been switched-off due to the sites being inaccessible during the lockdown.

We have also made contact with charge point hosts where a charge point has been out of use for an extended period of time, in order to support getting these units operational again. As per our usual process, we will update our Live Map when these charge points are available.

We are pleased to share that even with these charge points factored into our calculations, we have consistently been reporting that over 90% of the network is available and accessible to ChargePlace Scotland members.

Switched-off units

We have a wide range of businesses that have installed charge points on the network, including hotels and shops. Some of these businesses have closed their sites during the lockdown, which has meant that these charge points have been inaccessible to ChargePlace Scotland members.

We have already been advised by a number of charge point hosts that they plan to reopen their sites in July, however, they will only do this when it is safe to do so. As government guidance continues to evolve, we will update our Live Map and webpage that includes a list of switched-off units to keep our members informed of the status of these units, and continue to share updates via our Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Access the list of switched-off charge points

New charge points

The ongoing development of the ChargePlace Scotland network continues, with many of the activities that were taking place prior to lockdown now restarting.

We have recently announced a number of new charge point installations via our Twitter and Facebook accounts and will continue to do so when new charge points are commissioned.

If you have noticed that one of our new EV chargers has been installed near you, please ensure you check our Live Map to confirm it is available for use before charging your EV. We display all charge points on our Live Map as soon as they have completed testing and appreciate your patience as we work to make these units available as soon as possible.

Access the ChargePlace Scotland Live Map of Charge Points

Once again, we are grateful that our members continue to follow guidance relating to transport and COVID-19.

For safety information around using the network at this time, please read our advice for ChargePlace Scotland members.