Notice for EV drivers – customer action required as charging networks change
EV Charging network changes
The back office provision for the council-owned public charging networks in Argyll and Bute, the Western Isles, Orkney and the Shetland Islands is moving from ChargePlace Scotland to ScottishPower.
This is because ChargePlace Scotland is ceasing operations in 2026.
In order to make the change easier for the public, we will complete the network moves in one go, beginning February 2026.
As each charger moves to ScottishPower, clear instructions will be added to the charger detailing how to charge your EV with ScottishPower.
However, all customers will need to take action to ensure they can still charge both during and after this move.
Network roles and responsibilities
ScottishPower will take on the same role that ChargePlace Scotland (CPS) fulfilled, including
- Mapping their chargers so that customers can find them
- Providing customer payment facilities and taking payments
- Managing the day-to-day operation of the chargers, including maintenance co-ordination and charging session initiation
- Providing the 24/7 customer helpline (0800 001 5234)
Councils will continue to
- Set their EV charging tariffs, including pre-authorisation amounts
- Monitor maintenance performance (provided by a third party)
- Manage and pay for the energy supply
Access and payment
There are multiple ways to start a charging session and pay for it with ScottishPower. These options include using a new RFID card, the ScottishPower Recharge App, contactless payment and roaming cards.
RFID cards
Many customers will be used to ChargePlace Scotland RFID cards. These won’t work on Council-owned chargers once they move to ScottishPower, but you can order a ScottishPower RFID card through the ScottishPower Recharge App (SP Recharge).
When a charging session is initiated using an RFID card, a pre-authorised amount will be reserved by ScottishPower from your card until your charging session finishes. This will happen regardless of the payment method you use. For the customer, this pre-authorisation ensures funds are available for services they plan to use, while for ScottishPower and the Councils it’s a way to validate the card and reduce the risk of payments defaulting.
The pre-authorised amount reserved, along with the price per kilowatt-hour, will be displayed on the contactless terminal or the charger’s display screen before you begin charging.
When you stop charging, the total price and the duration of the charging session will be displayed on the contactless terminal or the charger’s display screen. That total price will be debited from your card and ScottishPower will release the pre-authorised reserve amount back to your card. This is usually immediate, but can occasionally take up to 3 days if ScottishPower encounter any funding or authorisation barriers with a customer’s bank.
Please note that RFID cards can be used to start a charging session even if mobile communications go down, providing you have used the charger before. The session details are stored and your account debited when the charger comes back online. Although this can mean session payments are delayed, RFID cards therefore remain a dependable backup to start and pay for charging, particularly for residents or regular visitors to rural and island locations.
The ScottishPower Recharge App (SP Recharge)
SP Recharge allows you to find ScottishPower Chargers, either those nearby or by searching the map and/or using its filters.
You can set up your payment details on SP Recharge to pay through the App. When a charging session is initiated using the App, a pre-authorised amount will be reserved by ScottishPower from your card until your charging session finishes and the total cost can be calculated and debited from your card.
Before each charging session SP Recharge will show the price per kilowatt-hour, and afterwards it stores the total price paid and the amount of electricity used in ‘my account’/’charging sessions’.
The App also contains user guides under ‘my account’ within the T&Cs (although price offers, loyalty schemes and subscriptions are not available because the flat-rate tariff set by the Councils will apply).
Contactless Payment
Where chargers have contactless payments facilities you can charge your EV without having to register with ScottishPower or create a ScottishPower account. All 50kW+ chargers after the 6th April 2026 and some 7-22kW chargers, identifiable on SP Recharge, will have contactless payment facilities.
As above, when a charging session is initiated using Contactless Payment, a pre-authorised amount will be reserved by ScottishPower from your card until your charging session finishes and the total cost can be calculated and debited from your card. The reserve amount, along with the price per kilowatt-hour, will be displayed on the contactless terminal, or on the charger display screen, before you begin charging.
When you stop charging, ScottishPower will release the reserve amount, and the relevant amount charged will be debited from your card. The total price paid and the duration of the charging session will also be displayed on the contactless terminal or on the charger’s display screen.
Roaming access
EV roaming enables drivers to charge their vehicles at different charging networks using a single RFID card or App. It reduces the need for multiple Apps/accounts, aiming to offer a seamless charging experience across a wide range of chargers and locations. However, roaming partners may add their own fees to tariffs and there isn’t yet one roaming provider that gives access to all charging networks.
ScottishPower has EV roaming agreements with several partners, including Allstar, Electroverse, Gireve, OVO Charge and Zapmap. Drivers can use an RFID card and App from any of these partners to access ScottishPower’s chargers.
If you want to use a single RFID card or App for both ScottishPower and ChargePlace Scotland chargers, Zapmap’s RFID card and App will work with chargers on both networks.
If you travel to the Highlands, Moray, Aberdeenshire or Aberdeen City and want to use a single RFID card or App for their EZO chargers as well as ScottishPower & ChargePlace Scotland chargers, Electroverse’s RFID card and App will work with chargers on all three networks.
Roaming is explored in detail on this podcast sponsored by Zapmap (transcript available): https://evmusings.com/episode/roaming
ACTION REQUIRED
As soon as a charger moves from ChargePlace Scotland to ScottishPower’s network, existing CPS RFID cards will no longer work on that charger.
During the move there will therefore be days when some chargers will be operated by ScottishPower and some by ChargePlace Scotland. We will publish a moving date for each charger in January, but any customers needing to charge during the move period will need to be able to access both networks.
We therefore recommend that all EV drivers living in or visiting Argyll and Bute, the Western Isles, Orkney and the Shetland Islands take the following action to ensure they can still charge on the public network during and after February.
- Download SP Recharge using the links below. This is an instant process
App store
Google Play store
If you want to pay with the app and therefore be able to access charging session history, you can set up your account and payment details.
If you don’t want to pay through the app, it is still very useful for finding, filtering and identifying features on chargers.
- Order a new RFID card. This can be:
- a ScottishPower RFID card, ordered through ‘my account’ in SP Recharge. It may take up to a week to arrive by post.
- a roaming RFID card (eg. Zapmap or Electroverse. Delivery times will vary, allow at least 2 weeks).
Contactless payment will not be available at all sites so is best viewed as a convenient bonus or a feature to check before heading to the charging site.
Further information
We will release further information closer to the network move, including (but not limited to) the date each charger will move networks and confirmation of the pre-authorisation amounts ScottishPower will charge for each payment option.
Contact details
Main point of contact for ScottishPower payment options:
- ScottishPower helpline 0800 001 5234
Other contacts:
- HITRANS: info@hitrans.org.uk
- Western Isles: electricvehicle@cne-siar.gov.uk
- Orkney Islands: evcharging@orkney.gov.uk
- Argyll and Bute: evc@argyll-bute.gov.uk
- Shetland Islands: cp@shetland.gov.uk