Electric car charging points are set to be installed in Largs and Millport by the summer.

North Ayrshire council is looking to install eight points across the area to make ‘green’ transport more viable.

The local points will be at Vikingar!, Largs, and Quayhead, Millport. Last week, the RAC Foundation claimed that around half of all charging points in Scotland could be lying idle.

Rather than look to other methods of environmentally friendly travel, North Ayrshire council has confirmed that it has received funding to increase the number of points from two to 10.

Statistics gathered last August showed that 217 of the 482 units in the charge Place Scotland network were not plugged into at all during that month. the remainder were used at least once.

A spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council said the use of existing points were encouraging.

He said: “the council installed two electric vehicle charging points at Cunninghame House, Irvine.

“The two points are available for public and staff use, and meter readings are taken regularly to monitor usage. there are no specified targets to be met.

“However, data for the last three months shows a generally rising trend, with data for January 2015 showing consumption equivalent to 15 full charging cycles for a standard 100 mile range electric vehicle.

“The council has conducted three separate trials with an electric pool car vehicle for staff business travel use, and used the points at Cunninghame House for recharging.

“The booking records for the vehicles show that they were well used.

“The council also secured £118,000 in 2014 for delivery of eight further public electric vehicle charging points at a variety of locations across North Ayrshire, which are anticipated to become live in April 2015.

“The continued development of the charging network is expected to encourage further take up of electric vehicles.” Prof Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “The encouraging news is that electric car sales in the UK are at last showing signs of improvement, but we still have a charging network in Scotland that is running below capacity.

“Part of the reason for installing public charge points is to help drivers overcome their fear of range anxiety, but this does not come cheap.

“This data also suggests a good proportion of charge points are located on private premises including council sites.

He added: “This is encouraging as it was always envisaged that fleet operators would lead the way in the electric revolution."