Electric car drivers have hit out at West Lothian Council over charging points.
They say one has not been connected to the electricity supply despite being installed last year.
Grahame Case, of Broxburn, said in a tweet that the charging point at the Strathbrock Partnership Centre still does not have its power supply.
Grahame said: “This one was probably installed in April of last year and I contacted West Lothian Council customer services in June because they still weren’t switched on.
“For people who can’t charge at home with private charging points working public charging points are very necessary.
“If the council don’t start getting behind people using electric vehicles soon we won’t hit the government target of phasing out petrol and diesel cars by 2032.”
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Stacey Dickson, who works as a driving instructor in an electric car, has found the shortage of charging points has affected her work.
She said: “One dilemma I regularly face is cars with combustion engines parking in electric vehicle spaces.
“Another one is people using rapid chargers, which charge cars in about 30 minutes, as fast chargers and leaving them for hours on end due to the lack of charging points.”
She added: “I have found myself in the situation of occasionally cancelling lessons due to queues at the chargers.”
Domhnall Dods from Livingston has also been underwhelmed by the council’s provision of charging points.
He said: “Even though I’ve now got a charge point at home now, it’s not as fast as the high-speed ones, of which we’ve only got two in all of West Lothian and at the one at Livingston stadium you can wait for over an hour.”
Domhnall added: “The council are missing a trick. If you’ve got these rapid chargers you can attract people into the town centres.
“At a time when councils are worrying about the death of the high street this is a way to counteract that.”
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A council spokesperson said: “We aim to work with the local community and our community planning partners to grow our network of charging points across West Lothian in the future.
“So far we have utilised grants made available by both the Scottish and UK governments to create a network of charging points.
“This has allowed us to install six outlets spread across West Lothian, including rapid charge points in Whitburn and Livingston.
“If further funding is available we would look to apply to grow the network of charging points further as resources allow.
“Supply issues have delayed the new charging point at Strathbrock and we hope to make this operational using additional funding made available from the Scottish Government in 2019/20.”
The spokesperson added: “We also continue to offer free charging at any council-owned charging point, with many charging point owners now asking for payment to cover electricity costs.
“Although use of our charging points is steadily increasing, there remains capacity for them to accommodate more vehicles.
“Local residents can also get their own charging points installed at home, with grants available towards the cost of installation.
“The council operates a number of electric vehicles but has no say over which vehicles individuals chose to buy to suit their needs.
“Going forward, we are looking at innovative solutions for developing charging infrastructure and have recently been awarded grant funding to consider the feasibility of electric vehicle and vehicle to grid charging points in conjunction with solar PV panels and battery storage.”
