How much of the extra funding that it plans for electric charging points will be allocated to rural communities.

On 29 August 2019, the Scottish Government announced a new Strategic Partnership between the Scottish Government, including Transport Scotland, Scottish Power Energy Networks and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, that is intended to ensure that Scotland has access to a world-leading electric vehicle charging network and the electricity network needed to support it. The £7.5 million project is currently in development and it is anticipated that the knowledge and evidence they generate will be of benefit to both Scotland’s urban and rural communities.
We have provided over £30m in grant funding to all 32 of Scotland’s Local Authorities since 2012 to help establish a comprehensive electric vehicle charging network of over 1,000 charge points. Funding is distributed to local authorities based on a methodology agreed with COSLA. That methodology takes into consideration the areas with greater demand for new charging infrastructure, areas where there was pressure on existing charging infrastructure or areas of strategic importance to ensure adequate geographical coverage of charging infrastructure.
70% of publicly available charge points on the ChargePlace Scotland network are out with Scotland’s large urban areas with 40% of the ChargePlace Scotland network serving small towns and rural areas.