Electric cars: cleaner, greener journeys

The Scottish Government set out a vision for the future in 2013 when Keith Brown, then the minister for transport and veterans, launched Switched On Scotland: A Roadmap to Widespread Adoption of Plug-in Vehicles.

The Roadmap details Scotland’s vision to free Scottish towns, cities and communities from damaging petrol and diesel vehicle emissions by 2050.

EVs will not only help achieve Scotland’s ambitious emissions reduction targets, but also help to improve local air quality with a resultant improvement in public health and wellbeing.

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In Scotland a third of all car journeys are less than two miles long and nearly a quarter of all trips are one mile or less. In a regular car, these journeys emit a disproportionate amount of carbon into the air, whereas EVs provide a cleaner method of transport.

To help promote uptake, local authorities and businesses are being supported to install charge points on their own premises and help them replace their fleets with cleaner, electric alternatives.

David Stribling is an EV Network member. He said: “I initially attended an event run by the Energy Saving Trust on electric vehicles as I own my own business and was interested in learning more about electric vans as a cost-saving alternative.

“One of the presenters on the day was a Nissan Leaf owner. His experiences as an EV driver sounded so positive and cost effective, I decided to lease one.

“We have now had the Leaf for two years and it’s completed over 14,000 miles — it’s a really nippy car and great fun to drive, and also comes with zero road tax and company car tax, which is ideal.”