Meeting of the Parliament 10 March 2016
I thank Dave Thompson for bringing the debate to the chamber.
The expansion of electric vehicle charging networks across the UK in recent years is a welcome contribution to reducing CO2 emissions. The more convenient and cost effective it is for people to have electric or hybrid vehicles, the more demand will increase.
Until now, a lot of the investment in fast or rapid charging points has focused on areas with a high volume of traffic such as urban areas and motorways. Now, Scotland is reaching a point at which we need to invest in vehicle infrastructure for semi-rural and rural areas where people are much more dependent on their cars for short journeys.
In Glasgow, there is reasonable coverage for electric car charging points, but no superchargers or rapid chargers. As demand is high, there are often not enough spaces for people to charge their cars. Glasgow has had free charging points for electric cars for several years. As the number of users of plug-in vehicles increased, there began to be disputes when hybrid or electric cars were parked in those spaces but were not actually plugged in. In other areas, owners of electric vehicles were upset that the charging facilities were being used by hybrid cars.
Earlier this year, Glasgow City Council introduced a £3-per-hour levy for street-side electric car charging. I feel that the introduction of charges for charging is a step backwards. There is usually free parking for cars for up to two hours, so two hours of charging should also be free in a bid to encourage more electric vehicles in our cities.
The electric car charging network needs to keep up with technology. In Scotland there are only three Tesla superchargers, which deliver 120kW of direct current, and sadly none of them is on the west coast. If someone in Glasgow wants access to a supercharger, they need to travel around 50 miles to get to one, which is unsatisfactory and unacceptable.
Charging points for electric cars are as much a part of our transport infrastructure as our roads, and they can become an integral part of our tourist industry. I call on local and regional governments, Westminster, the European Union and even the United Nations to encourage private and public industry to play a greater role in providing additional power points or superchargers in supermarkets, service stations and tourist destinations, to enhance the service that is provided.
I quite agree with Dave Thompson that if we want to ensure that the electric vehicle industry flourishes, we must provide people with the services that are needed for that to happen. There is a great opportunity for the Scottish Parliament to take a lead on the issue and show the rest of the UK and other countries that electric vehicles are the future and will enhance everyone’s quality of life.
12:45