Alastair Young, associate director – Net Zero Transport at Scottish Futures Trust, speaks to Norrie Hunter about the organisation’s work to expand the charge point infrastructure.

Alastair Young, associate director – Net Zero Transport at Scottish Futures Trust

Scottish Futures Trust was established by the Scottish Government as a centre of infrastructure expertise. It provides additional skills, resource and knowledge to public sector organisations, supporting them plan, fund, deliver and manage their infrastructure projects and programmes.

Its work is spearheaded by Alastair Young, an infrastructure programme delivery specialist who works with Transport Scotland and local authorities to accelerate the delivery of electric vehicle charging infrastructure across Scotland as well as exploring ways to mobilise private sector capital into this sector.

He talks to Fleet World about the organisation’s work and progress.

“The transport sector is the greatest contributor to carbon emissions with road transport responsible for the largest share, therefore supporting the uptake of electric vehicles is an important component of the Scottish Government’s Climate Change Plan.

“The Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) has been working closely with Transport Scotland and local authorities across Scotland to help accelerate the delivery of an expanded public charging network. We have also engaged with numerous charge point operators to help understand how Scotland can best attract the significant amount of investment that will be required to meet future demand for public charging.

“In July last year, along with Transport Scotland, we published a joint report on the EV charging landscape in Scotland.

“This identified that whilst the current the provision of public charging across Scotland compares favourably with the rest of the UK, Scotland is now at a tipping point, with several factors converging on the planning, delivery and financing of the vast amount of public charging infrastructure required.

“Two key aspects highlighted in the report were that the scale and pace of investment in public charging needs to accelerate and that, while an important driver of early uptake, the provision of free-to-use public charge points, needs to change.

“The report also highlighted that the natural renewal cycle of charging infrastructure also creates opportunities to set in place new ways to encourage commercial investment in the next generation of technologies and service delivery models that are better placed to provide an accessible, reliable and customer-focused charging network.

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“Looking to the future, there are benefits in Scotland expanding the number and mix of charge point operators to enable both private and commercial EV drivers to have a choice as to where, how and when they charge their vehicle.

“Also, as part of the delivery landscape, there is a clear role for the public sector in supporting the principles of a just transition through targeting charge point delivery areas which are not currently commercially viable.

“To help embrace this change, SFT has supported Transport Scotland in the establishment of the £60m Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund.  This four-year programme makes funding available to help local authorities identify areas where new charge point provision will be required and to develop new delivery models that will see public and private capital working together in areas which may not be commercially viable on their own.

“To help deliver the scale of investment required we are encouraging local authorities to collaborate with a view understanding how expanding the charging network can complement a transition to more sustainable forms of transport as well as enabling delivery at the scale and pace required to meet future demand.

“Already we are seeing several collaborations taking shape, which augers well for significant investment in public charging in the new year.

“SFT will continue to support local authorities in identifying their investment needs as well as implementing new delivery models which can help mobilise a significant amount of investment into Scotland’s charging network.

“As we transition to new delivery models, it is important that we continue to listen to the concerns of EV drivers and recognise the needs of charge point operators as we seek to create the platform for the investment of many millions of pounds in the Scottish EV charging market and deliver an accessible, reliable and affordable public charging network that works for all.”

For more details on how Scottish Futures Trust can support local authorities, please email.

• Norrie Hunter is a former motor industry public relations manager, freelance journalist and motoring writer. He now assists the Electric Vehicle Association Scotland with press and media communications. He is an EV owner and lives in North Ayrshire.