ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) data: FOI release

Information requested

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 regarding the ChargePlace Scotland network. Specifically, I would like to request:

1. The number of ChargePlace Scotland EV charging stations that are currently fully operational, including a breakdown by local authority area.

2. Whether the Scottish Government has any plans to introduce fees for the use of ChargePlace Scotland rapid-charging EV charging stations across Scotland.

3. The number of ChargePlace Scotland EV charging stations that have not been operational in each month of the current contract, broken down by local authority area across Scotland.

4. Details of how ChargePlace Scotland tracks and responds to EV charging station faults across Scotland broken down by local authority, including:

a. The average time taken between a fault being identified and the charging station being made operational again.

b. The longest recorded time taken between a fault being identified and the charging station being made operational again.

If Transport Scotland does not hold some or all of this information, please confirm which parts you are unable to supply and identify the authority, contractor, or body that holds the data.

If you require any clarification of my request, please contact me as soon as possible.

Response

I am able to supply some of the information requested.

The electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure on the ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) network is owned by over 400 organisations who received grant funding from the Scottish Government to install publicly accessible charge points. Those organisations are responsible for selecting charge point type and location, determining tariffs and the ongoing maintenance and performance of their charge points.

When faults occur, the role of CPS is to conduct first-line diagnostics, to perform basic fixes remotely if feasible and to escalate faults to the respective owners so that they can schedule an engineer site visit.

Owners are responsible for scheduling and paying for their chosen hardware maintenance suppliers to remedy faults.

I will now handle your questions in turn.

1. The number of ChargePlace Scotland EV charging stations that are currently fully operational, including a breakdown by local authority area.

The CPS network has charge points available for public use as well as charge points that are ‘nonpublic’ and reserved for fleet and business use only. For example, police vehicles and other blue light services. I have taken your question to mean that you are interested in ‘public’ charge points on the CPS network.

I have taken ‘fully operational’ to mean a charge point does not have a fault which prevents someone using that charge point.

The information you have requested in ‘question 1’ can be found in the table below. ‘Unit’ refers to an individual ‘charge point’.

Local Authority	Total Units	Units without faults
Aberdeen City	84	77
Aberdeenshire	120	107
Angus	66	60
Argyll and Bute	77	66
City of Edinburgh	172	166
Clackmannanshire	39	39
Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar	46	38
Dumfries and Galloway	218	206
Dundee	117	114
East Ayrshire	74	67
East Dunbartonshire	21	12
East Lothian	10	10
East Renfrewshire	22	21
Falkirk	102	98
Fife	121	115
Glasgow City Council	236	226
Highland	191	170
Inverclyde	30	29
Midlothian	61	49
Moray	38	33
North Ayrshire	59	55
North Lanarkshire	146	137
Orkney	33	31
Perth and Kinross	88	74
Renfrewshire	89	83
Scottish Borders	50	45
Shetland Islands	35	32
South Ayrshire	44	44
South Lanarkshire	168	164
Stirling	150	147
West Dunbartonshire	30	26
West Lothian	57	55

Please note that, as per the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, this information is accurate as of the date of request (your request was received 18/08/25 at 13:43). Faults on CPS are typically resolved swiftly and therefore many of the units that were experiencing faults at date of request may now be fully operational.

2. Whether the Scottish Government has any plans to introduce fees for the use of ChargePlace Scotland rapid-charging EV charging stations across Scotland.

Please note that under Section 25(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 we do not have to disclose information where the requester can reasonably obtain the information without making a request for it.

The Scottish Government does not have any involvement in the setting or regulating of tariffs on the CPS network. It is the respective charge point owners who determine appropriate tariffs and other site fees at their charge points. Almost all rapid charge points on the CPS network now have tariffs applied by their respective owners. More details on tariffs can be found here Charge Point Tariffs – Charge Place Scotland.

3.The number of ChargePlace Scotland EV charging stations that have not been operational in each month of the current contract, broken down by local authority area across Scotland.

Under Section 17 of FOISA we do not have to supply information that is not held in the format sought.

However, the information requested has been provided in a range of documents as explained below.

I have taken ‘not been operational’ to mean charge points that have experienced a fault(s) that has prevented someone from using that charge point. However, please be advised that CPS record ‘faults’ that cover many different scenarios and do not necessarily relate to issues that affect the operation of the charging infrastructure itself, for example, it could relate to lighting at the site. Some faults may also be reported by more than one member of the public and therefore each recorded fault is not necessarily a unique instance.

Please also note that a ‘communication transmission error’ is not classed as a ‘fault’ as the charge point itself may be in good working order and able to dispense power to a vehicle. This follows the same definition used to calculate ‘reliability’ in the UK Public Charge Point Regulations 2023.

I have taken ‘current contract’ to mean the live contract between Transport Scotland and eVolt, formerly known as ‘Swarco’. The operational contract with eVolt commenced in July 2021.

Please note that under Section 25(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 we do not have to disclose information where the requester can reasonably obtain the information without making a request for it.

The ChargePlace Scotland website provides most of the information you have requested and can be found here: Monthly Charge Point Performance – Charge Place Scotland. To find the information you have requested please select each respective month’s ‘Ticket Breakdown’ to download the associated file in MS excel format. In the excel document please view column ‘F’ where you will be able to apply a filter to view ‘fault tickets’. To link this data to local authority area you will need to cross reference the ‘charge point ID’ in column ‘A’ with each month’s respective ‘Charge Point Report’ which can be downloaded from the same CPS webpage. Column ‘D’ in the monthly charge point report shows which local authority each charge point is located.

Prior to October 2022 monthly fault information was recorded in a different format.

The attached document called ‘ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) - Fault Data - 27 July 2021 to end September 2022’ includes a list of issues recorded by CPS as ‘faults’. The list is not broken down by ‘fault type’ and as per the other information provided these do not all represent issues that necessarily prevented the successful operation of charge points. To identify each charge point’s local authority location you can cross reference the ‘CPID’ with the enclosed asset register document ‘September 2025 Asset Register Excerpt.

Some of the charge point ID numbers on the file named ‘ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) - Fault Data - 27 July 2021 to end September 2022’ may not match up with ID numbers on the ‘September 2025 Asset Register Excerpt’ document due to changes that were made to asset reference IDs in 2022 when efforts were made to standardise ID numbering across the whole CPS network.

4. Details of how ChargePlace Scotland tracks and responds to EV charging station faults across Scotland broken down by local authority, including:

a. The average time taken between a fault being identified and the charging station being made operational again.

b. The longest recorded time taken between a fault being identified and the charging station being made operational again.

Please note that under Section 25(1) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 we do not have to disclose information where the requester can reasonably obtain the information without making a request for it.

The role of CPS is to inform the owners of faults as they arise, the owner is then responsible for scheduling their chosen hardware maintainer to visit the site and take any remedial action. Most faults on the CPS network are transient and in the majority of cases require no physical intervention as CPS can resolve some types of issue remotely. This means that a high proportion are closed down swiftly and effectively with minimal impact on drivers. The CPS network operates in accordance with the reliability standards set out in the UK Public Charge Point Regulations 2023.

Monthly fault ticket information covering points 4a & 4b can be found on the CPS website - Monthly Charge Point Performance – Charge Place Scotland. To find the information you have requested please select each respective month’s ‘Ticket Breakdown’ to download the associated file in MS excel format. In the excel document please view column ‘F’ where you will be able to apply a filter to view ‘fault tickets’. The information you have requested can be calculated for each individual charge point using data in column ‘E’- date fault was reported to CPS; and ‘G’ – date fault was closed by CPS.

For information prior to October 2022, once again please refer to the attached document called ‘ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) - Fault Data - 27 July 2021 to end September 2022’ which includes a list of issues recorded by CPS as ‘faults’. The document also shows ‘date reported’ and ‘date closed’ times, allowing you to calculate the information you have requested. To identify each charge point’s local authority location you can cross reference the ‘CPID’ with the enclosed asset register document ‘September 2025 Asset Register Excerpt, although please note that not all IDs will match across due to the standardisation of charge point reference numbers in October 2022.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500480850 - Information released - Asset Register

File type

Excel document

File size

117.7 kB

FOI 202500480850- Information released - Document

File type

Excel document

File size

368.7 kB