Electric vehicle owners in Edinburgh who do not have a garage or driveway cannot charge their EVs from home. You are not allowed to trail cables over pavements as they are trip hazards for pedestrians. However, Edinburgh Council will not allow local residents to take advantage of a government grant to install cross pavement solutions to house the charging cable so that it is no longer a hazard (image shows one possible option). If you live in nearby East Lothian or in Stirling, live trials are in progress, but not in Edinburgh.

This means that many Edinburgh residents cannot benefit from the convenience of charging from home and, more importantly, it costs them much more as they are forced to use public charge points, charging anything from 5 to 10 times more per kilowatt hour. I would also add that there are not enough of these. My nearest one is a 20 minute walk away and I can only charge for a maximum of 1 hour there. Hardly convenient!

If we want to encourage Edinburgh folks to change to EVs, this needs to be sorted. A large proportion of Edinburgh residents do not have driveways or garages and by not allowing them to charge from home, there is no incentive to switch. If we really want to cut emissions and switch away from fossil fuels, Edinburgh Council need to act now to resolve this inequity.

If you are thinking of getting an EV, already have one or feel that the current charging situation is unfair, please sign and share the petition.