Tariffs and overstay charges for the use of public electric vehicle (EV) charging points in East Ayrshire will come into effect this week.

East Ayrshire Council (EAC) has been responsible for installing and operating charging points since 2015.

There are currently 65 EV charging points in 36 locations across East Ayrshire, and EAC says that increased demand for these has resulted in high running costs to the local authority.

The charges will come into effect from Monday, April 1.

Starting from 1 April 2024, the charging tariff will be set at:

  • Fast/AC (7kW): £0.31 per kWh
  • Fast/AC (22kW): £0.31per kWh
  • Rapid/DC (50kW): £0.37 per kWh

 An overstay charge will also be introduced to ensure that service users choose the appropriate charger capacity for the duration that their vehicle will be parked.

READ MORE: New Cumnock men appear in court charged with attempted robbery

This will also help to reduce congestion on rapid chargers. The overstay charges will be:

  • Fast/AC: £30 after the first 5 hours plus 10 minutes grace between 8am and 10pm
  • Rapid/DC: £30 after the first hour plus 10 minutes grace between 8am and 10pm


There will also be a minimum spend of £5 at charging points to ensure that EV charger service users only access the charge facility to draw a minimum of 18kWh of electricity when they do need to charge.

The East Ayrshire tariff is lower than the average local authority rate of 50p per kWh for a rapid charging station, although this figure fluctuates across local authority areas.