Scotland EV charging grants 2026-27: £17.8m, what you can claim

Scotland has £17.8m of its own EV charging and uptake schemes for 2026-27, delivered by Energy Saving Trust and running alongside UK Government incentives, electrive reported. If you live in Scotland, the UK grants are only part of the picture: there is money for rural and island chargers, for homes with no driveway, for flats and for small businesses. The awards run from £400 for a home charger to £60,000 for a high-power public unit.

What is in the £17.8m package?

The Scottish Government says the schemes focus on public, workplace and home charging, with targeted support for rural and island communities, lower-income households, homes without off-street parking, microbusinesses and the third sector. Five schemes make up the package.

Scheme	Who it is for	Headline amount
Rural and Island Infrastructure Fund	Landowning businesses and charge point operators	Up to £60,000 per high-power DC unit
Domestic Rural and Island grant	Lower-income rural and island households	Up to £400
Cross-pavement charging grant	Homes without off-street parking	Up to £3,500
Factored Development Charge Point Fund	Property managers and factors for flats	Up to £20,000 per project
Rural and Island Workplace Charging	Microbusinesses and third sector groups	Up to £5,000

The fifth item in the package is the ChargePlace Scotland Transition Fund, which helps owners move chargers to a new operator. We cover it in our ChargePlace Scotland closing guide. The amounts above come from the Energy Saving Trust pages linked in each section, and its scheme pages are the ones to check before you apply.

Public chargers: the Rural and Island Infrastructure Fund

The fund supports up to 1,000 public charge points in rural and island areas. Funding covers only publicly accessible chargers that appear on a public network map, and applicants must be a landowning business or a charge point operator, according to Energy Saving Trust.

The support level depends on how remote the site is, and the £60,000 headline applies only to the most remote sites and islands:

Site type	Share of cost covered	AC charge point	High-power DC
Urban-rural classification 5 to 6	75%	Up to £11,250	Up to £45,000
Classification 7 to 8 and islands	100%	Up to £15,000	Up to £60,000

For drivers, the fund matters most where commercial networks have not gone. It is also relevant as the public network is reorganised: our guide to charging networks in Scotland shows who runs what today.

Home charging: £400 and the cross-pavement grant

Energy Saving Trust lists up to £400 towards a home charger if you live in a rural or remote area of Scotland, including islands, have or will soon have an EV, and have an annual household income of £50,000 or less (Energy Saving Trust).

If you have no driveway, the cross-pavement charging grant pays up to £3,500 towards a solution that carries the cable across the pavement. You need:

• Permission from your council or pavement maintainer.
• An EV, or evidence you will soon have one.
• A charge point unit, or evidence you will soon have one.

The permission step is the sticking point. Energy Saving Trust says only East Lothian, Perth and Kinross, and Renfrewshire had confirmed they were open to accepting cross-pavement permit applications. Check with your own council before buying anything.

Outside Scotland’s own schemes, UK-wide help for home chargers is covered in our guide to home charger grants.

Flats and workplaces

The Factored Development Charge Point Fund is for residential properties with private communal parking. Applications come from property managers or factors, and the grant can cover up to 100% of purchase and installation costs, to a maximum of £20,000 per project (Energy Saving Trust). If you own a flat, the practical step is to ask your factor to apply.

Rural and island microbusinesses and third sector organisations can claim up to 100% of costs, to a maximum of £5,000, for chargers used by staff or fleet vehicles. The grant is for private chargers only, not public charging (Energy Saving Trust).

How do the Scottish grants compare with UK ones?

The Scottish schemes are designed to fill gaps rather than replace UK support. The package is aimed at places and households where the market is thin: islands, remote villages, tenement streets and flats. Our overview of EV grants available covers the UK-wide side, including the car grant.

What this means for you

• Rural or island household with an EV: if your household income is £50,000 or less, check the £400 home charger grant first.
• No driveway: ask your council whether it accepts cross-pavement permits before applying for the £3,500.
• Flat owner: ask your factor to apply for up to £20,000 for the whole development.
• Small rural business or charity: up to £5,000 can cover staff or fleet chargers.
• Landowner: a public charger on your land could attract up to £60,000 for a high-power DC unit.

Apply through Energy Saving Trust, and do not buy or install equipment before checking its rules. For fitting a charger without a grant, see our home charger guide.