Meeting of the Parliament 10 March 2016
There may well be a fast charge point in Killin, but it would take three hours to get an 80 per cent charge. I need rapid charge points, which do that in 30 minutes. That is the point. By the way, I stopped at the Green Welly Stop, which is not far from Killin. I needed the extra stop.
I welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to developing the charge network into one of the most comprehensive sets of rapid charge points in Europe.
My second point is that there needs to be charge point reliability. Without that, extra charge points will be rendered meaningless and the public’s perception of an electric car as a lesser motor vehicle that is used only for shorter journeys will remain.
I welcome members of the Electric Vehicle Association of Scotland to the Parliament, including the chair, Douglas Robertson, and his son, Iain. They have been very helpful in the lead-up to the debate, and I applaud their efforts in promoting and representing the interests of electric vehicle users in Scotland. If they wait at the bottom of the stairs after the debate, I will come round and see them.
There has been some negative press about the Scottish Government wasting money on providing rapid chargers in the rural north, so it was with delight that I learned that EVAS will host an event in June to highlight the many benefits of electric car travel in rural areas.