The Scottish Government will give more than £20 million in the next two years to encourage more households and businesses with lower incomes to purchase electric vehicles, writes Peter Brown.
Funding includes the Used Electric Low Carbon Vehicle Loan for Vans.
A Transport Scotland spokesperson said that funding is available for small and large vans based the list of eligible vans for the UK Government’s Plug-in Van and Truck Grant.
“In March 2024, we published the HGV Decarbonisation Pathway for Scotland which identifies new financial models supporting decarbonisation of the HGV sector following 18 month’s work by a broad range of stakeholders across haulage, manufacturing, energy, government, union and finance sectors to understand and overcome the barriers to zero emission HGVs in Scotland,” the spokesperson added.
“The Scottish Government has also provided funding to support the installation of high-powered charging infrastructure across 20 bus depots, and this charging infrastructure will also be made available to other fleets to support hauliers using battery electric HGVs in Scotland.”
These funding programmes are delivered on behalf of the Scottish Government by Energy Saving Trust. Heather Quin is the senior programme manager.
“As an independent organisation working to address the climate emergency, we’re proud to have delivered the Scottish Government’s electric vehicle loans since 2011,” she said.
“This long-standing support has helped thousands of people and businesses across Scotland transition to cleaner, more sustainable transport.
“In addition to supporting individuals and businesses purchase electric vehicles, we’re pleased to also be offering further support to microbusinesses and sole traders to purchase electric vans. These loans are a practical and inclusive way to help more people switch to electric vehicles, lowering Scotland’s carbon emissions and improving local air quality.”
