Scottish Golf to install more than 1,000 EV charging stations

Scottish Golf, Scotland’s national governing body for amateur golf, has partnered with electric vehicle (EV) charging provider Forev to build a network of more than 1,000 charge points at affiliated golf clubs.

Scottish Golf represents around 580 affiliated golf clubs and services and has more than 180,000 golf club members. Scotland Golf describes their vision as “Scotland’s game for everyone,” and now they want to provide EV charging for all those golf lovers, too.

Forev builds and operates a sustainable electric vehicle infrastructure for Scotland, and their rollout has begun now, in fall 2019. The installation of facilities for EV charging at golf clubs will be delivered by the company’s technology and service provider, SWARCO eVolt. Forev is covering the installation costs of all charging points.

According to Government Europa:

The golf clubs hosting the charge points will receive a fixed annual payment per charging bay, which will be donated to the junior section of each club.

The partnership between Forev and Scottish Golf, Scotland’s golf governing body, aligns with the Scottish government’s commitment to phase out the sale of new cars powered by fossil fuels by 2032. Currently only 50% of the population of Scotland has access to electric vehicle chargepoints at home, so Scottish Golf has identified an ‘urgent need’ for convenient, accessible charging facilities.

Forev’s installation of EV charging facilities will begin at Crail Golfing Society in Fife (pictured above), on Scotland’s East coast.

Government EV incentives

Transport Scotland is promoting Scottish EV charging by offering an interest-free EV loan. It will currently loan up to £35,000 to cover the cost of purchasing a new pure electric/plug-in hybrid vehicle, and up to £10,000 to cover the cost of purchasing a new electric motorcycle or scooter.

Further, for domestic charge points, the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) is offering £500 toward the cost of installation. The typical cost for a home charge point and installation is approximately £1000. The supplier receives this money from OLEV directly.