In a depressing survey of electric car use published this week, the most significant statistic was that only 1.4 per cent of motorists in Scotland currently drive fully electric vehicles.
To meet international climate goals of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, EVs need to constitute between 75% and 95% of global passenger vehicle sales by 2030.
On this issue, and many others, Norway is the world’s most progressive nation, with 20.12% of drivers there now owning electric cars. The UK only just makes the top 10 in Europe, with a rate of 1.93%, with Scotland even further behind.
While cost remains an issue, a stubborn block on more drivers making the switch to EVs is the lack of accessibility to, and reliability of, the nation’s charging network, according to the latest Consumer Scotland survey.
Almost 40% of EV users said they struggled to find available charging points, while the same number found EV running costs higher than anticipated, sometimes exceeding petrol or diesel expenses. Nearly half of respondents reported public charging points being out of order.
The survey also revealed a discrepancy between advertised vehicle range and real-world battery performance, causing concern among drivers.
READ MORE BY CARLOS ALBA
I bought an electric car - I'm trading it in for a dirty diesel motor
Trying to trade in my hopeless electric car has been a nightmare
As one of the 1.4%, I can sympathise with the frustrations felt by many drivers of EVs. When I have spoken or written about this issue in the past, I have been heckled by the same voices, droning into the same self-satisfied echo chambers.
The fault is not with the cars or the charging infrastructure, they say, but with us, the drivers. We are malcontents, they assert; we didn’t do our homework before purchasing the cars; or, best of all, we don’t drive our cars carefully enough.
Regarding the costs of running an electric car, we should follow their lead and rely on home charging, they counsel. Oh, if it were only so simple.
The prohibitive cost of public charging points has driven almost 75% of EV users to rely primarily on home charging, the survey reveals.
However, this solution is not universally feasible. With nearly 60% of Scotland's population residing in flats or terraced housing, where home charging can be challenging, a significant portion of the population faces limitations.
Anyone who insists that the answer to overcoming the problems of Scotland’s dysfunctional EV charging network is to rely on home charging clearly only uses their EV for local driving.
One participant stated, "Charging is the big negative... it is still very difficult and inconvenient to take [an EV] on long journeys." Another lamented the cost of public charging, stating: "If I had to rely on public charging I’d sell the car... Public charging is out of control for cost."
To be fair to governments in London and Edinburgh, initiatives are under way to encourage the transition to EVs. The Scottish Government recently announced a £7million fund to bolster EV charging networks in five councils.
Meanwhile, the new Labour UK Government aims to accelerate the ban on new petrol and diesel car sales from 2035 to 2030, aligning with the Scottish Government's goal of halving transport carbon emissions by the same year.
Despite these efforts, EV adoption remains low and the success of future initiatives hinges on addressing the concerns highlighted in the Consumer Scotland report, ensuring a convenient, dependable, and accessible charging experience for all EV drivers.
As an EV driver, I am concerned that there is a fundamental dishonesty at the heart of the debate. As well as having an underfunded and unreliable public charging network, battery range remains an issue.
No-one in government or in the industry is prepared to admit that, even with predicted improvements in battery technology, it is unlikely that EVs will be able to perform at a similar level to petrol and diesel vehicles.
As a nation, we have barely scratched the surface of addressing the problems of ensuring access to charging points for people living in flats and terraced houses. Not only are there unresolved planning questions about where to locate charge points, there is also the thorny issue of who will pay for them.
Anyone who has used a ChargePlace Scotland facility knows it is clearly not the answer. Despite its infrastructure being only a few years old, it is decrepit, unreliable, and poorly maintained.
On any given day at my local charging station, at least one of the four available chargers will be out of order and the smartphone app and digital interface are already pitifully dated.
A modern, reliable charging infrastructure that’s fit for purpose can only ever be funded by the EV industry, and that will only happen when there’s a strong enough financial incentive for it to do so.
At the moment the cost of purchasing and running an EV is prohibitive for the vast majority of motorists.
The UK Government’s previous funding of the renewable energy industry, through feed-in-tariffs, demonstrates how capricious such support can be. When ministers decided they could no longer continue to subsidise an uneconomic industry and cut back on the tariffs, the rate of progress stalled.
The past five years have witnessed an average annual growth rate of 65% in the purchase of EVs. To stay on track, the world needs to maintain an average annual growth rate of 31% over the next eight years.
Policy interventions, along with social and economic influences, can accelerate or decelerate the adoption rate.
Norway's success in making electric vehicles (EVs) the top choice for new car buyers is rooted in three key strategies: financial incentives, a robust charging infrastructure, and attractive perks for EV owners.
Norway boasts the highest density of public fast chargers globally, a testament to its significant investment in EV infrastructure. These chargers can replenish an EV battery from empty to 80% in as little as 20 minutes. Furthermore, Norway champions the "right to charge" for apartment dwellers and offers grants to housing associations for charger installations.
Norway has also sweetened the deal for EV owners with a range of incentives, including free city parking, exemptions or discounts on road tolls, access to priority bus lanes and discounted ferry transport.
Unless governments in the UK put their foot on the gas and adopt similar measures, we will continue to be stuck in the slow lane.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel