Expansion of East Lothian Electric Vehicle infrastructure
Within East Lothian Council’s Climate Change strategy are plans to reduce carbon emissions across the county. One major means of reducing such emissions is the switch to Electric Vehicle (EVs) by both local residents and businesses and within the council’s own fleet of vehicles.
Ryan Robertson, EV Infrastructure Officer, has been in the forefront of developing and expanding the EV charging network across the county in recent years and East Lothian Council is now one of the leading Local Authorities when it comes to the number of accessible EV chargepoints.
Ryan, a graduate in Environmental Geography, said: “I’ve been fortunate in recent years to combine my interest and background in Climate Change matters with a professional remit to reduce carbon emissions. Thanks to funding opportunities available from Scottish Government we have been able to upgrade and increase the number of chargepoints in East Lothian and respond positively to requests from local residents seeking chargepoints within their towns and villages.”
Over the past three years more than 80 chargepoints have been installed with at least one central hub with multiple chargepoints in each of our six main towns of Musselburgh, Tranent, Haddington, Dunbar, North Berwick and Prestonpans. In addition, in response from local residents who don’t have private driveways a number of residential hubs have been provided offering overnight charging.
Earlier this month, Ryan completed the installation of our latest charging hub at the Park and Choose site in Wallyford. This includes UK’s first publicly-owned, publicly-accessible High Power Chargers. For people commuting by bus or train into Edinburgh, there are also 16 additional 7kW chargers where cars can be left all day. A unique feature of the new charging hub is the way it has been designed to accommodate all types of EVs, including longer vehicles such as minibuses, or vans with trailers.
Ryan’s role within the council is continuing to develop and he is now also helping to develop integrated transport hubs which will support local bus services as well as electric bikes and pay-as-you-go car hire.
For updated information about Electric Vehicle provision in East Lothian visit www.eastlothian.gov.uk/electricEastLothian