The Lord Provost the Rt Hon Donald Wilson has taken delivery of a new electric BMW car to replace the old one thus fulfilling a promise he made some time back to get a more eco-friendly car. He has no problem in getting this car charged of course as there is a charging point in the quadrangle at the City Chambers. (And he hasn’t sold the private number – we believe it just hasn’t been changed over yet!)
The council is to approve the installation of new electric charging points in the Marchmont and Sciennes area of the city where there is apparently more demand than anywhere else in Edinburgh.
This will be a pilot scheme and will help the council reduce emission of all the noxious gases associated with ordinary cars. The council know that there were 121 electric cars registered to owners in the city as at last September, but with an expectation that this number will rise, they feel it is time to look at how best they can introduce the charging points which will be necessary. Marchmont and Sciennes has a high proportion of two car households and it is apparently more common to replace the second car with an electric one. The council hope to make this easier for all residents and promote the use of low emission vehicles by installing on-street charging points for residents and visitors.
The Transport Committee will examine the details again in Summer 2015 when they hope to have details of locations, the costs involved, the parking charges for charging bays and a programme for rolling out the trial.
Transport Scotland will be involved in the project which will follow a local consultation, and it is hoped to introduce charging points at parking bays and city car club spaces in the second half of 2016. It will take until then to establish what the council should do and then put all the Traffic Regulation Orders in place.
The next phase would then introduce charging points for electric buses and taxis across the city.
If you have an electric car then here is already a network of public charging points available across the city on the map below:
The council already has an electric car which we spotted in the quad the other day.
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Is there a way the rest of us can get on-street charging where we live? The government subsidises the installation of charging points on private property. So I think it’s reasonable to believe they would do the same for charging points on city property, where people park their cars.
British Gas claims a turn around time to install a charging point (on private property) to be about 15 days after it’s requested. It would be great if they got the green light to install charging points street side too.
A lot of people in Edinburgh live in flats, with street only parking, and often rented. So installing a box on the side of the building and running a power cord over the pavement to the street is not a viable option. If people are to buy electric cars, they will need to be able to charge them where they live.
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