For:Ev, the Edinburgh-headquartered provider of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, has launched the roll-out of rapid charging stations at four branches of Starbucks, from Perthshire to the Borders.

Installation is complete at Starbucks sites in Livingston and Dunfermline, with work due to start at two further sites in Galashiels and Blairgowrie later this month.

The charging hubs at Livingston, Dunfermline and Galashiels will benefit from ultra-rapid 150kW C Series chargers, which can charge a typical EV from 20% to 80% charge in 20-30 minutes.  The 100kW rapid chargers at Blairgowrie will do the same job in 30-40 minutes.

For:Ev has established an ongoing partnership with the landowners of the sites, Mungo Park (Livingston, Galashiels and Blairgowrie) and the Geddes SIPP (Dunfermline), creating the potential to develop EV charging hubs at further Scottish retail and hospitality sites in the future.

This forms part of the company’s ambitious plans to create a network of more than 1,700 electric vehicle charging points at 600 public sites across the UK.

The plans will focus on public ‘destination’ charging points, with For:Ev keen to partner with single-site and multi-site landowners, as well as local authorities.

The company’s business development manager, Calum Wallace said: “The installation of these ultra-rapid charge points at Starbucks sites across Scotland will be very welcome.

“Infrastructure like this will make it easy for EV owners to quickly top up their charge in the time it takes to have a coffee.

“In order to break down a key barrier to EV charging away from home, our chargers operate on a user-friendly ‘tap-and-go’ approach, with no registration or membership requirements, to make the experience as easy and stress-free as possible.”

Trojan funding

A company developing pavement charging infrastructure for electric vehicles has received almost £500,000 from the Scottish government’s Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund.

Trojan Energy, based in Aberdeen, has developed a system of charges that can provide charging for owners without their own driveway or parking space.

A portable connector, known as a lance, is provided, meaning owners can connect wherever the charging points are installed.

The new funding will contribute to a £2 million project to expand the workforce, scale up development and research products.