Open data to accelerate the electric mobility revolution: deploying journey electric vehicle chargers in rural Scotland

Governments across the world are exploring options to transition their population away from internal combustion vehicles toward alternative low- and zero-carbon technologies. For small “light-duty” personal and commercial vehicles, the transition toward battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs) appears to be the candidate solution. In Scotland since 2013, more than £50 million (∼US$63 million) has been invested in a nationwide EV charging network consisting of more than 2,400 charging points. Statistics for the year 2022 indicate that more than 2 million vehicle charging sessions took place on the public charging network in Scotland (not including third-party operators nor private charging points) and delivered approximately 43 GWh of energy to vehicles. As of January 2023, there were 69 public charging points per 100,000 people with 17.3 public rapid charging points per 100,000 people. A rapid charger is a device capable of charging an EV at ≥ 25 kW. Generally, rapid charging points are rated at 50-kW dc and above. Increasingly, the classification “rapid” is being replaced by the term journey charging.