Manx Utilities will start commanding a fee to charge electric vehicles by the end of the year.

The authority’s 24 charging points have powered up vehicles free, in a bid to encourage more people to switch to electric vehicles but that is set to change.

Chairman Dr Alex Allinson said: ’By the end of the year we will have the ability to charge and we will be charging for the electricity used.’

He added: ’Manx Utilities is continuing to work with the Department of Infrastructure to assess the appropriateness of a common public charging infrastructure for the Isle of Man.

’It is intended that this charging infrastructure will facilitate customer payment for the electricity consumed and provide a contribution to the cost of providing the appropriate charging network.’

The government has set a target of at least 10,000 electric vehicles on Manx roads by 2030.

In response to Tynwald question from Jason Moorhouse (Arbory, Castletown and Malew), Dr Alex Allinson said: ’The number of public charging points will increase.

’It is assumed that the number of electric vehicles will increase by around 30% per year. The projections for the next five years suggest the number of electric vehicles will increase by 1,800 or 360 vehicles per year, and therefore up to 30 additional charging points will be required annually in order to maintain a 10:1 ratio of vehicles to public charging points.’

Work was under way to find the best sites for charging points and ways of publicising them, he added.

Using locations to alleviate any concerns about range of travel and where there would be a high volume of use would be key, said Dr Allison.

’We have 24 charging stations at 10 locations and these are at places as diverse as the Bungalow, Ramsey swimming pool, Peel, Port St Mary, Port Erin, Douglas and at our headquarters at Ballacottier.’