A new study has revealed that four of the five UK locations with the most free electric vehicle (EV) charging points are located in Scotland.
Research conducted by EV leasing company The Electric Car Scheme found that Kilmarnock, Scotland, has the highest number of free EV charging points in the UK with 21 stations for its 46,350 residents (4.5 per every 10,000 people).
The Scottish towns of Ayr and Stirling secured the second and third whilst and Dumfries, Scotland, drew with Durham, England, for the fourth spot.
| Rank | City | Population | No. of free charging points | No. of free charging points per 10,000 people |
| 1 | Kilmarnock | 46,350 | 21 | 4.5 |
| 2 | Ayr | 47,190 | 20 | 4.2 |
| 3 | Stirling | 36,440 | 8 | 2.2 |
| =4 | Dumfries | 33,280 | 5 | 1.5 |
| =4 | Durham | 47,785 | 7 | 1.5 |
| 5 | Paisley | 76,220 | 10 | 1.31 |
The Electric Car Scheme attributed Scotland’s dominance in the availability of free chargepoints to the country’s ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) scheme, which aims to create a public charging network consisting of 90% free chargepoints.
CPS was established by the Scottish government at a cost of £45 million and was awarded the contract to take full responsibility for Scotland’s public EV chargepoints in 2021.
Scotland has been bolstering efforts to make EV’s more accessible, as 2023 saw Transport for Scotland release its new ‘vision’ for the future of public EV charging in Scotland, following a study that revealed Scotland could have a 16% higher EV uptake than UK Government statistics suggest.
England lags behind
Southend-on-Sea, England, was found to have the lowest volume of free charging stations per capita, offering just one across its 295,310 residents.
In fact, all but one of the lowest-scoring locations were in England, as illustrated below.
| Rank | City | Population | No. of free charging points | No. of free charging points per 10,000 people |
| 1 | Southend-on-Sea | 295,310 | 1 | 0.03 |
| =2 | Bexley | 228,000 | 1 | 0.04 |
| =2 | Cardiff | 447,287 | 2 | 0.04 |
| 3 | Walsall | 172,141 | 1 | 0.06 |
| =4 | Burnley | 149,422 | 1 | 0.07 |
| =4 | Bolton | 141,331 | 1 | 0.07 |
| =4 | West Bromwich | 135,618 | 1 | 0.07 |
Thom Groot, CEO at The Electric Car Scheme praised the UK government for adopting similar EV schemes to Scotland – which includes the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate – adding that such legislation will help row the free EV charging network further.
“Free charging points are also, of course, incredibly helpful for keeping EV costs down,” said Groot.
“The industry is developing at a rapid pace, so even if your city or town doesn’t currently have lots of free charging spots available, it doesn’t mean you won’t see these being implemented in the future.”
