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Electric Vehicle Charging
Service Updates:
Newton Street will be closed on Tuesday 29 August 2023 for essential works with no access to Electric Vehicle Charging points at this location between 7am until 11am.
The inaugural UCI Cycling World Championships has now concluded however a small number of chargers are still unavailable. Alternative chargers can be found on Charge Place Scotland website.
The following chargers will be inaccessible until 21 August 2023:
CPS Data ID | Current CPS Name | Building Number | Street | postcode |
52084 | Glasgow BMX Centre | 137 | Archerhill Road | G13 3LS |
52085 | Glasgow BMX Centre | 137 | Archerhill Road | G13 3LS |
52086 | Glasgow BMX Centre | 137 | Archerhill Road | G13 3LS |
50536 | Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome | 100 | London Road | G40 3HG |
50686 | Glasgow National Hockey Centre | Greenhead Street (Glasgow Green) | G40 1HU |
Electric Vehicle Charging
In September 2017, as part of the Scottish Government's Programme for Government, Nicola Sturgeon announced that the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles would be phased out in Scotland by 2032.
The underlying vision for a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions will be accompanied by marked improvements in local air quality, noise pollution and public health.
What is the Electric Vehicle Charging provision in Glasgow?
The City Administration Committee approved the interim Electric Vehicle Charge Point Policy in February 2020.
As at December 2022, the council had installed 334 live charge points across 173 units for public use in Glasgow, more than any other Scottish Authority, including off-street hubs and 16 'Rapid' units that will charge most vehicles 80% in approximately 30 minutes.
In the 12 months from January to December 2022, 15.8 thousand unique public driver accounts had used the council's public network in Glasgow for just under 160 thousand sessions, consuming 3.05 million kWh. This is the equivalent of approximately 10.4 million emission free miles and a diversion of approximately 2 thousand tonnes of CO2.
All Council chargers are connected to the Charge Place Scotland network and users can register for an RFID card on their website. Chargers can also be accessed using their mobile app.
A list of publicly available charge points, including those provided by the council and other organisations can be found on the Charge Place Scotland website.
More information can be found on our FAQs.
EV Charging Tariff
In April 2021 the City Administration Committee (CAC) approved the Council's EV charge point policy and the introduction of a tariff and an overstay fee for the electricity consumed in the public electric vehicle charge point network.
Due to various issues, implementation of the tariff was delayed however a tariff was introduced on 11 April 2023.
The Tariff includes a Connection Fee and a rate for the electricity consumed:
| Charging Unit | Connection Fee |
| All Charging Units | £1.00 per session |
| Charging Unit | Rate per kWh |
| Standard Charging Units (max 7 - 22kW) | £0.40 per kWh |
| Rapid Charging Units (max 50 - 150kW) | £0.70 per kWh |
Note the rate is applied for each charging unit and not at a connector level.
An overstay charge of £40 will be automatically applied at all chargers after the Maximum duration. The council reserves the right to apply a grace period.
Maximum Durations are:
| Charging Unit | Maximum Duration |
| All Rapid Charging Units | 1 hour |
| On-Street Standard Charging Units in City Centre | 2 hours |
| On-Street Standard Charging Units in rest of city | 3 hours |
| Standard Charging Units in Council family Car Parks | 4 hours |
EV Charging Tariff information by charger is displayed below:
| Charging Unit | Rate perkWh | Connection Fee | Overstay Fee | Location | Max Stay |
| Rapid Charging Unit | £0.70 | £1.00 | £40 | All locations | 1 hour |
| Standard Charging Unit | £0.40 | £1.00 | £40 | On-Street City Centre | 2 hours |
| On-Street Rest of City | 3 hours | ||||
| Off-Street Car Parks | 4 hours |
The tariff will be reviewed on a regular basis.
Tariff information and a QR code for further information is displayed on all charging units as well as on the Charge Place Scotland live maps, App and website.
The Council do not hold any Charge Place Scotland account details and any issues regarding billing, payments or tariff collection issues should be directed to ChargePlace Scotland who administer the charging units and tariff collection on our behalf.
Please note that no refunds will be made for any overstay fees incurred.
The overstay charge will be applied directly to the payment method used. We encourage drivers to acquaint yourselves with the maximum charging duration in operation at each charging unit.
Please also note that separate Parking Enforcement may be in operation and drivers should also ensure they are aware of parking restrictions to avoid any enforcement action.
Commercial EV Charging Hub
Following award of grant funding from the Switched On Towns and Cities Fund, the Council has created a Commercial EV Charging Hub at Newton Street Car Park. The Hub provides 1x 150kW Ultra Rapid Charger and 5x 50kW Rapid Chargers for exclusive use of licenced Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles, and 6x 50kW Rapid Chargers for exclusive use of Goods Vehicles.
These units are not published on the Charge Place Scotland live maps and so for convenience are listed here:
CPS ID | Charging Unit (1 EV Bay per unit) |
60037 | Newton Street Car Park (Ultra Rapid) - Taxis and PH ONLY |
60038 | Newton Street Car Park - Taxis and PH ONLY |
60039 | Newton Street Car Park - Taxis and PH ONLY |
60040 | Newton Street Car Park - Taxis and PH ONLY |
60041 | Newton Street Car Park - Taxis and PH ONLY |
60042 | Newton Street Car Park - Taxis and PH ONLY |
60043 | Newton Street Car Park - Goods Vehicles ONLY |
60044 | Newton Street Car Park - Goods Vehicles ONLY |
60045 | Newton Street Car Park - Goods Vehicles ONLY |
60046 | Newton Street Car Park - Goods Vehicles ONLY |
60047 | Newton Street Car Park - Goods Vehicles ONLY |
60048 | Newton Street Car Park - Goods Vehicles ONLY |
The Tariff for all units is detailed below. Note the rate is applied for each charging unit and not at a connector level.
Charging Unit | Rate per kWh | Connection Fee | Overstay Fee | Max Stay |
Ultra / Rapid Charging Unit | £0.70 | £1.00 | £40 | 1 hour |
All enquiries regarding payments, invoices, billing and fault reporting should be directed to Charge Place Scotland.
Please note that separate parking fees also apply at this location and drivers should refer to parking signage.
Details of our other Charging Units are available from Charge Place Scotland at https://chargeplacescotland.org/
Future plans
In terms of growing the network, the council is currently reviewing the forward programme for EV chargers in the City including a review into funding to support the roll out of more chargers and the necessary involvement of the private sector.
Glasgow City Council has engaged with Glasgow City Region (GCR) to commission a consultancy report on the EV landscape. This piece of work will assist in determining the various options available and future involvement of the council in EVCI. Officers will engage with consultants through early 2023. This will assist the council in determining its future strategy for EVCI and facilitate the update of the council's EV Charging Policy. Options may include the growth of the council's network; partnership such as concession arrangements with the private sector; sale of the council network.
More information will be published when these options have been assessed.
Support for installations
We unfortunately cannot respond to individual requests from citizens or businesses for new chargers.
We also currently do not allow charging cables to be laid across pavements as this could be a safety hazard.
For Businesses or individual users without a dedicated parking space, an option may be to have a charge point installed at a workplace. Grants may be available for businesses from the Energy Saving Trust and more information can be found on the Energy Saving Trust website. Other grants and loans may also be available from the Office of Zero Emissions Vehicles (OZEV) and Transport Scotland.
Enquiries regarding the installation of chargers at private communal carparks should be directed to the owner, landlord or factor of the site. There is currently no funding available from the council for private installation.
Parking Charges and Enforcement
As demand on the network continues to rise, enforcement of spaces is critical for the user experience and crucial to maintaining user confidence specifically in the network and in EVs generally.
Many charging bays have Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) in place. These apply 24 hours a day and restrictions will be enforced by Parking Attendants and, if necessary, the issuing of Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs).
Further TROs will be applied to the remaining bays however, this requires a lengthy statutory process to be undertaken to adapt standard parking bays to (or create new) charging bays. Phase one of the TRO process is distributed to statutory consultees, for example the police and fire services. Phase 2 is then open to the public. No signage or alterations to bay markings is permitted until the consultation process is complete and the weight of the responses are positive. Similarly, no enforcement of these spaces can be undertaken until the TRO is in place.
It should be noted that even if there is no EV Charging specific TRO in place, that parking charges and enforcement are in place in onstreet bays and car parks.
There is an assumption from many drivers that restrictions on these bays end at 6pm, similar to other parking spaces, however this is not always the case and drivers should always look for signage at charge points to be sure which restrictions apply to each location.
Reporting faults on the network
Any faults found on the ChargePlace Scotland network can be reported via the ChargePlace Scotland app, by using the fault reporting form or by calling ChargePlace Scotland on 0141 648 0750.
Faults should not be reported to the council as the unit may not be one of ours.
Glasgow's approach
Glasgow is key to Scotland's air quality improvement success and unlocking the Region's full economic potential to make it the low-carbon 'growth engine' for the area.
Glasgow has introduced Scotland's first Low Emission Zone (LEZ), further driving the demand for ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV).
Electric vehicles will be compliant.
More information is available at Low Emission Zone.
The Council adopted 
Glasgow's Active Travel Strategy 2022-2031 [7Mb] at the City Administration Committee on 24th February 2022.
The strategy supports the City's ambitious commitments by 2030 to:
- A minimum 30% reduction in car kilometres travelled.
- 'Vision Zero' of no deaths or serious injuries on our roads, streets, footpaths or cycle ways.
- Achieve Net Zero Carbon [13Mb].
Recent research suggests the average vehicle is only used for 9 hours a week, meaning it takes up valuable parking or road space the remaining 159 hours.
Car clubs offer solutions to EV ownership cost barriers, congestion, parking limitations and air quality issues. They also better match the Councils vision of a sustainable, equitable and healthy, future city.
More information on Car Club vehicle locations can be found on the Co-wheels website.
In addition, electric bikes (eBikes) have been introduced to the City's Nextbike cycle hire scheme. For more information visit the Next Bike website.
