DRIVERS who own an EV in East Renfrewshire are set to face a fee to charge their vehicle in the local authority.

It comes after the council announced the introduction of electric vehicle tariffs and overstay charges for the use of public charging points.

The fees, which are set to be introduced from October 1 will see drivers paying to use both standard and rapid charges.

Residents with electric motors will need to pay 40p per kWh for standard charging units with a £1 minimum fee, while it will cost 70p for kWh for rapid charging units, again with a £1 minimum fee.

On top of that, motorists will have to pay a £1 per minute overstay charge after 60 minutes for rapid chargers.

Previously, the council has subsidised the cost of electricity usage from its chargers since 2015 to incentivise car owners to move to EVs.

However, a significant increase in demand for the use of the Council’s 12 charging points has resulted in high costs.

The tariffs will match the rates of Glasgow City Council, North Lanarkshire Council, and South Lanarkshire Council to avoid residents crossing to or from another local authority for preferential rates.

Councillor Danny Devlin, Convener for Environment and Housing, said: “The demand for electric vehicles is continually on the rise and it’s great to see so many car owners have made the shift.

"However providing free EV chargers is no longer financially stable for the Council and is preventing private sector investment, which will play a major role in future expansion of the overall publicly available EV charging network.

"These changes will bring East Renfrewshire in line with other local authorities across Scotland whilst helping to reduce transport emissions and contribute to the Council’s net zero target.”