Scotland's chargers are changing hands — here's how to keep up

If you drive an EV in Scotland, you've probably noticed something odd this year: chargers you've used for ages suddenly asking for a different app, or your ChargePlace Scotland card not working where it used to.

You're not imagining it. ChargePlace Scotland — the network behind most public chargers in Scotland — is winding down, and every charger on it is moving to a new operator by the end of December 2026. There's no single replacement. Each charger's owner (usually your local council) picks its own new operator, which means Scotland's public charging is splitting into lots of separate networks, each with its own app, card and prices.

Who's gone where so far

And that's before you count the networks that were never on CPS at all — BP Pulse, InstaVolt, Osprey, IONITY, Gridserve, Pod Point and more, mostly running the rapid chargers along the main routes.

What it means in practice: when a charger moves networks, your CPS card and app stop working on it, the price usually changes, and you need that operator's own app or a contactless card to charge. A driver going Glasgow → Skye could now pass chargers from five different operators on one trip.

Keeping track of that is our job, not yours

That's really the point of this article. EvEcho's job is to make the changeover something you don't have to think about:

One map, every network. Chargers that have moved to EZO, Evolt or ScottishPower are on the EvEcho map next to the ones still on ChargePlace Scotland — and next to the rapid networks like Osprey, IONITY and BP Pulse. You don't need to know who operates a charger to find it.

Live availability, not just locations. Where a network shares live data (and more of them do every month), you can see whether a charger is actually free before you drive to it. Some of our feeds update within seconds.

Watch a charger, get told when it's free. This is the bit nobody else does. If the charger you want is busy, watch it — EvEcho notifies you the moment it frees up. No refreshing a map in a car park.

We point you to the right way to pay. EvEcho doesn't take the payment — when you're at the charger, we hand you straight to the operator's own app or tell you if contactless works there, so you're never stuck at an unfamiliar unit wondering which of your six charging apps this one wants.

We follow the news so you don't have to. As more chargers change hands through 2026, we track the announcements, update the map, and keep these pages current — so a charger that switched networks last month doesn't just quietly go grey in your app.

To be fair: a map app like Zapmap will also show you chargers across networks, and it's a fine tool. The difference is what happens when the charger you need is busy, or when the network under it changes — EvEcho watches, notifies, and keeps up with the migration for you.

A few practical tips for the changeover

• Keep your CPS card for now — plenty of chargers are still on ChargePlace Scotland until late 2026 — but don't rely on it alone for a long trip. (How to pay at a CPS charger.)
• Contactless is your friend on most rapid chargers, whoever runs them — and where it isn't there, our guide to paying on every Scottish network covers the app or card each operator wants. Driving up for a trip rather than living here? The visitor's guide covers paying without signing up for anything.
• Check the price before you plug in. Tariffs almost always change when a charger changes networks — what was one price under CPS may be different under the new operator.
• "Unknown" usually means "data offline", not "broken" — worth knowing during a handover, when feeds go quiet for a while. (What to expect from Scottish charger reliability.)
• If a charger looks wrong in EvEcho — wrong network, wrong price, marked available when it isn't — tell us. During a migration like this, driver reports are gold.

Tell us what you're seeing

We're a small team and Scotland is changing fast. If you spot a charger that's switched networks, a price that's changed, or a network you want us to add next, email hello@evecho.ie — every reply gets read, and reports from Scottish drivers directly shape what we build next.