Scotland is leading an electric revolution

I can’t be the only one who continues to double-take at the sight of electric vehicle (EV) charging points at Leuchars station. They seem to be popping up everywhere; I was astonished to find they’ve even installed one near the garish military vehicle displays outside Scotland’s Secret Bunker. Almost covertly, the Scottish Government and its bodies are turning Scotland into an EV-friendly country – and this became all the more obvious this week.

As Scottish Government initiatives go, a £14 million commitment to replace a fleet of petrol and diesel vehicles with electric equivalents over the next two years is not to be sneered at. Charging points at all of the Government’s main buildings? Impressive. It’s only outdone by the generous grants that are already available to help people purchase electric vehicles and then cover the cost of installing a charging point at their home. Many public charging points funded by our Government will also let electric vehicle owners charge their vehicles for free until 2016. (That’s a lot cheaper than fuel…)

Though the weight that the Government is putting behind electric vehicles is not altogether surprising – rather, it’s a logical progression of its existing environmental policies – it has caught me off guard. Whereas the construction of wind turbines is hard to miss, electric vehicle charging points have appeared in my area without much warning at all, often before electric vehicles have. Quite rightly, though, Government figures say the charging network needs to be put in place before electric vehicles will be taken up; after all, “people wouldn’t go out in their petrol-driven cars if there were no petrol stations”.

It isn’t just the Scottish Government that’s getting involved, either. Just over a fortnight ago in Dundee, new electric cars and special “fast-charge points” were shown off, and taxi company director Dave Young indicated that he might invest in a few. While EVs are currently notorious for their short range, these particular vehicles can travel for 186 miles on a single charge, and their fast-charge points cost about eight times less than most others on the market. And what makes this investment viable? According to Young, it helps that “Dundee is ahead of the game […] the council is already putting in quite a few charging points and we’re away in front of everybody else”.

Public investment seems, then, to be an effective means of developing electric vehicles as a viable, more eco-friendly alternative to petrol and diesel vehicles. Dundee already has hybrid-electric double-decker buses, distinguished by their green livery. Combined with a fully electric taxi service, Dundee in particular could show the way for Scotland to achieve its new target of eliminating vehicle emissions by 2050. It’s not a replacement for good cycle infrastructure, but a great complement that ameliorates the environmental impact of both public and private means of transport. I’m fully behind it.