On Thursday the Scottish government launched a £14 million plan to increase the number of electric vehicles used on Scottish roads, and help achieve the target of decarbonising all road transport in the country by 2050.
The plan is designed to build upon existing green transport programmes such as the UK government's £5,000 plug in car grant for all owners buying EVs, and ChargePlace Scotland which intends to provide a network of recharge stations across the country for EV drivers.
The Scottish government also intends to help drivers who are looking to buy EVs by offering them advice on the environmental and financial benefits offered by ultra-low carbon emission vehicles. In fact Energy Saving Trust Scotland has started to offer a new service that allows prospective EV owners to talk to current owners, and take test drives at their local dealerships.
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Keith Brown, the Transport Minister, said that "this transformation is absolutely vital to achieve our ambitious climate change targets. It will also help improve local air quality with a resultant improvement in public health and wellbeing and contribute toward further energising Scotland's economy through opportunities for our flourishing green technology industries and our renewable energy sector."
The announcement was made just weeks after the UK government promised that all cars bought after 2040 would be ultra-low emissions vehicles.
New figures released by the Department for Transport on Thursday stated that the average CO2 emission of cars bought during the second quarter of 2013 compared to the year before had fallen by three percent, from133.2 gCO2 per kilometre to 128.8 gCO2 per kilometre.
The number of EVs registered for the plug-in car grant also grew by 23 percent during the second quarter of the year, from 3,849 to 4,728.
By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More