Nathanael Williams

Scottish Government teams up with Tesla to improve network of ‘green-electricity’ charging points for green tech drivers

TRANSPORT MINISTER Humza Yousaf has said that the Scottish Government aims to have Scotland’s cities free of fossil fuel vehicles by the year 2050.

The comments were made as a new agreement between Transport Scotland and car charge manufacturer Charge Your Car (CYC) was signed meaning that battery powered cars across Scotland will be able to be plugged and charged in to an improved and extended charging network.

CYC has won a £750,000 contract to operate the electric car charging network known as Charge Place Scotland, made up of 550 charge points for battery-powered vehicles (BPV).

The Charge Place Scotland network of publicly available BPV charge points will be funded by Transport Scotland, and its 559 charge points supply almost 1,100 bays across Scotland for electric car drivers.

"We have laid out a clear vision of freeing towns, cities and communities from emissions from fossil-fuelled vehicles by 2050." Humza Yousaf

Yousaf, transport minister and minister for the Highland and Islands, said: "We have laid out a clear vision of freeing towns, cities and communities from emissions from fossil-fuelled vehicles by 2050.

"Our aim is to encourage more individuals and businesses to make the switch to BPVs which is why we are continuing to invest in growing and operating the network across the country, spanning from the Hebrides to the Borders."

Since the beginning of this year until 31 March 2016, the network has delivered up to 1.2 million kWh of electricity for drivers and other means.

With the rise of electric cars the issue of easily and widely available electricity at charging points is a major factor for the public when considering buying a battery-powered vehicle.

Charge Place Scotland and renewable energy company Tesla have both expressed their intent on proving that having electric powered vehicles does not mean trading a clean environment for lack of range, distance or reliability.

"The network has delivered up to 1.2 million kWh of electricity for drivers." Transport Scotland

The other improvements to the network will include a new 24-hour and 365-day dedicated Charge Place Scotland customer helpline, an enhanced fault management system for breakdowns and the first dedicated Charge Place Scotland network manager based in Scotland.

Calvey Taylor-Haw, UK chief executive officer of CYC, said: "We are immensely pleased to be able to build on Charge Your Car’s and Transport Scotland’s success over the last three years in establishing a successful charging network right across Scotland from the Borders to the Shetland Islands.

"Now we will work together and further invest to extend the reach and quality of the network as we move from emerging technology, through mass mainstream adoption of electric transport."

CYC is the UK’s first national open access network and was launched in 2010, first in the north-east, and then extended to Scotland later in the same year.

It works by connecting electric car drivers to charging points through their smartphones or other payment methods.

The technology is designed and provided by Tesla, which in May this year opened a showroom in Scotland in Edinburgh and has set its sights on being the first port of call for green motoring and sustainable home improvements.

Picture courtesy of Scottish Government