Ministerial Foreword

Transport remained the largest contributing sector to total Scottish Green House Gas emissions for the eighth consecutive year, accounting for around 31.7% of total Scottish emissions in 2022 with road transport contributing to around 70% of transport emissions. Over the next decade, electric vehicles will play a critical part in our ambitions to cut emissions and to address climate change. Electric cars and vans will be key to how people, goods and services move around Scotland and beyond. We need to ensure that all parts of Scotland can benefit from this switch, that no one and no part of the country is left behind.

Scotland is already leading the way in the UK on public EV charging. On a per head of population basis, Scotland has more public EV charge points than any other part of the UK, except London, and more rapid public EV charge points than any other part of the UK.

In November 2024, Scotland met its target for 6,000 public EV charge points - two years ahead of the 2026 deadline. This target was achieved through a combination of public funding and increasing private sector investment.

We now need to go faster and further, if we are to achieve our commitment to deliver approximately 24,000 additional public EV charge points by 2030.

This plan, setting out how we will implement the Vision for our public charging network that was published in June 2023, sets out how we will do that.

In particular, it seeks to guide the key stakeholders who are central to developing Scotland’s public charging network. That includes commercial operators. They need to know that Scotland is open for business and that we want them to choose to invest in Scotland.

We have already seen significant growth in the level of private investment in public EV charging infrastructure essential to support the transition to net zero transport. This draft Implementation Plan outlines how the private sector will take on a leading role, setting out the actions necessary to realise the ambition of our Vision, which is to give Scotland a well-designed, accessible, comprehensive, and convenient public charging network that works for everyone.

First Minister and Transport Secretary, as desribed in the caption
Image 1: First Minister and the Cabinet Secretary for Transport use an IONITY Rapid EV charging Hub in Ayr during their attendance at the Travelling Cabinet in November 2024.

Fiona Hyslop
Cabinet Secretary for Transport