The Scottish road network is to feature charging points for electric cars as part of a new government scheme to reduce emissions.
The result of these plans will mean that drivers of electric cars will never be more than fifty miles from a charging point; and these points will also feature at leisure centres, council owned car parks and ferry terminals. Furthermore, 100% funding will be available to homeowners who wish to install a charging point at home.
This radical proposal is to be funded by Transport Scotland and the Department for Transport’s Office of Low Emission Vehicles, and a total of £2.6m is to be invested with a view to achieve ‘decarbonisation’ of road transport by 2050.
Transport Minister for Scotland Keith Brown said, ‘I look forward to the day when the only vehicles on Scotland’s roads are electric vehicles, and this funding will be a massive step towards that vision.”
Mr Brown also announced the launch of a new website, ChargePlace Scotland, which will allow members of the public to find their nearest charging points. It is hoped that this, coupled with the website’s information on financial incentives, will encourage more people to make the switch to electric vehicles.
Whilst this will inevitably be a big step forward in the Scottish government’s aim to meet their climate change targets, Environmental campaigners have stressed that major changes to public transport and a push to encourage drivers to leave the car at home entirely should not be forgotten.
Co-convenor of the Scottish Greens Patrick Harvie points out, ‘Electric vehicles can only properly cut our transport emissions if we have more renewable electricity on the grid and tariffs to encourage owners to charge them at non-peak times…It’s therefore essential that ministers put traffic demand management back into their plans and beef up their support for public transport and safer cycling.’
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