According to figures from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, Scottish use of grants for charging electric cars has lagged behind the English regions.
Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme demand across Scotland last year was 410 grants per 100,000 households, less than England except London.
“It wasn’t all bad news though,” said Greg Wilson of Quotezone.co.uk. Almost 3,000 Scottish electric vehicle owners used the system in 2020, a 45% increase from 2019 and the highest number since the program launched in 2014. “
UK EVHS Map
As of 2014, Edinburgh has installed the most appliances with 1001.
The Highlands ranks seventh out of 32 devices installed by local authorities in Scotland.
“The lower registration authorities are very rural like Moray and the Shetlands,” says Quotezone.
The average number of devices installed is 317 by local authorities.
“A total of £ 166,380 in grants has been made in the Highlands since 2014. It invested £ 40,900 in 2020, which is its highest value, up from £ 33,500 in 2019.
“A total of 332 household chargers with grants were installed, the best year being 2020 with 101. The next best is 67 in 2019.”
EVHS pays 75% of the cost of installing electric vehicle chargers in residential buildings.
The numbers follow last week’s news and show that in the UK, new electric vehicle registrations skyrocketed in 2020, reaching 87% growth for alternative fuel vehicles.
Vehicle registrations overall fell by 27% in 2020, with diesel vehicles being particularly hard hit at 51%.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced in November that, as part of the “green industrial revolution” to combat climate change, fully electric gasoline and diesel cars will no longer be sold in the UK from 2030 onwards.
The government plans to “invest more than £ 2.8 billion in electric vehicles and provide the country with charging stations”.
Wilson added, “Easy access to charging points is critical to meeting the government’s ambitious goals for the use of electric vehicles, but much remains to be done to meet these government plans. Studies suggest that the public charging infrastructure alone requires an investment of € 16.7 billion.
“While charger fundraising has skyrocketed over the past year, it needs to be increased further to ensure that more than two million new vehicles sold annually have access to electric charging points as the 2030 deadline approaches.
“Scottish electric vehicle showrooms and car owners may be disappointed with the latest numbers, but we have local factors such as the rural character of the area, the proportion of rental housing and access to off-street parking all of which are practical aspects of ecology. ”
