The majority of free rapid electric vehicle chargers in Perth are currently broken and awaiting repair.
Breakdowns have also affected key tourism hotspots in Perthshire.
Charging points in Dunkeld, Crieff and Killin are also currently out of action.
Officials at ChargePlace Scotland have confirmed that one unit in South Inch, two units in Canal Street and one unit in Broxden currently require repairs.
That leaves three free rapid chargers in full working order across the Fair City – with one of the units in Broxden working but in need of parts to repair an AC cable.
Engineers are investigating why chargers in Dunkeld and Killin have also lost power while two out of the four units in Crieff are broken.
The breakdowns are not linked and have various causes.
The situation has sparked fears about the tourism experience in and around Perthshire as visitors in electric vehicles struggle to find a rapid source of power for their journeys.
‘Nothing gets done’ on Perthshire EV repairs
One Perth EV driver, who wished to remain anonymous, said most of the nearby chargers were out of action.
He said: “It doesn’t seem to matter how many times people complain about it or report it.
“Nothing gets done.
“The ones in Canal Street car park have not worked since March. The one at South Inch was good until a few weeks ago.
“Out of the three at Broxden, one is all taped up with plastic.
“So you can see how frustrating it is.”
He said the malfunctioning units would affect the high numbers of tourists either visiting the area or travelling up the A9 into the Highlands.
“Perth is a very important crossroads in the road network system.
“Everyone comes through Perth. And yet all these chargers are out of action, plus Crieff is out of action, plus Dunkeld is out of action.”
The driver said he “loves his EV” and often recommends the technology to his friends.
But he is frustrated at how often the broken charging network is continuing to let down drivers.
“How can they talk about an electric A9 and how can they promote electric cars when they don’t have the chargers?”
Lengthy process to source EV charging unit parts
There are 18 publicly available ChargePlace Scotland charging points in Perth City – 8 of which are rapid chargers.
Other companies – such as Tesla – operate private charging networks.
Perth and Kinross Council is one of last remaining local authorities in Scotland to offer free charging.
Breakdowns can involve the ChargePlace Scotland network, the local authority, the charging point manufacturer and / or the electricity provider.
That can make it difficult to ensure fast repair times when something goes wrong.
A ChargePlace Scotland spokesman said their role was to collate information “then pass rapidly to charge point owners and maintenance providers for speedy investigation and resolution.”
“Power issues are obviously significant and something outside of ChargePlace Scotland’s control.
“This can also fall outwith the owners control, however they will then work through their maintainers directly with energy companies to return power to a site.”
Sourcing new parts to repair chargers could also be a lengthy process, he added.
Perth’s new electric car charging hub is slated to open at Broxden Park and Ride later this year.
Council bosses plan to install 41 electric car charging points.
A Perth & Kinross Council spokesperson said the are aware of the issues with these chargers.
“We are working together with ChargePlace Scotland and other partners to repair them as soon as possible.”
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