A ROADS chief has insisted that councils cannot continue to foot the bill for charging electric vehicles.

South and East Ayrshire Councils currently cover the electricity cost for residents’ charging their cars at public charging points.]

Kevin Braidwood, head of Ayrshire Roads Alliance, outlined plans to bring an EV (Electric Vehicle) charging strategy back to council after the recess at South Ayrshire Council’s  Partnerships Panel.

Prestwick Independent Councillor Hugh Hunter asked Mr Braidwood for an overview of the situation.

Mr Braidwood replied “We have carried out some consultation on EV charging and we are in a partnership with Scott Futures Trust and Transport Scotland to develop a strategy for public electric vehicle charging across the three Ayrshires.”

Both South and East Ayrshire have provided £60,000 apiece to develop the strategy.

Mr Braidwood added: “What we are looking at is a private partnership for EV charging, where we would hand over EV chargers to the public sector, where they would manage and maintain and put in new chargers.

“The Scottish Government is keen that the private sector gets heavily involved.”

Part of the strategy would look at partnership working with the fire, police and health services.

Mr Braidwood gave an example of a community health centre which, when closed in the evening, would have a bank of EV chargers.

"He said another key challenge was getting charging facilities to residents who stay in flats.