Hansard

Scotland, as a nation, is changing in many ways. Change, in most circumstances, is welcome—and the change that we are seeing in the advancement of our infrastructure is something that we should all be proud to support.

Of course, the driving force—to coin a phrase—behind many of the changes that we have heard about so far is the rapid pace of technological advancements and the growing popularity of low or zero-carbon-emission vehicles. As we have heard, Scotland is at the forefront of those changes, and we are doing more now than ever before to embrace, support and enhance our infrastructure to allow that to happen.

In 2011, the commercialisation of electric vehicles was limited to only a few, very expensive types, and the technology, which had been around for decades, had only started to become more accessible and affordable for large-scale production. By the end of 2011, 495 ULEVs were licensed in Scotland. If we fast forward to quarter 3 in 2018, that number has increased by more than 2,000 per cent to 10,360. In the same time, our infrastructure has improved and grown to accommodate that increase in the uptake of those vehicles.

No one is ever too far from the nearest public charging point; as the cabinet secretary mentioned in his opening speech, motorists are on average 2.78 miles away from their nearest charging point. However, I do not think that he mentioned that the average across Britain is 4.09 miles. Although much progress is still to be made, we are ahead of the game, at least in the UK.

In addition, with the Scottish Government’s chargeplace Scotland live interactive map providing real-time information on the position and status of each public charging point, the progress that has been made in the face of a rapidly advancing area of transportation is clear to see.

The motion refers to the “Electric A9”. I often use the A9 to head to Ullapool. The electric A9 is an innovative and welcome step in the right direction for ULEVs, and indicates further progress towards phasing out the need for new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2032. As part of that project, and with funding from the low-carbon travel and transport challenge fund, which is part of the European regional development fund, Falkirk Council has received funding to build a 20-unit electric vehicle recharging hub at the Falkirk stadium, which will be powered by a 168-panel solar canopy. That will not only lower the carbon footprint of motorists, but generate the power from a sustainable source. Similar hubs will be placed along the entire route of the A9 from Falkirk stadium all the way to Scrabster harbour, allowing urban and rural communities and businesses the opportunity to access EV charging points.

It would be remiss of me to speak on the subject of ULEVs without mentioning vehicles that have more than six or eight passengers. Scotland’s road network does not just accommodate cars; our network of buses work hard to get people to where they need to be on a daily basis. That may not always be as efficient as we would like, but we can work on that. As an aside, I would be happy to see the Transport (Scotland) Bill contain provisions to bring bus routes into the hands of the public again, or at least into the hands of local authorities, to ensure that services are focused purely on passengers and not for profits. That is a topic for another day.

When we Iook at buses in Edinburgh, for example, it is clear that a few of them are without the trademark noise and smell from the traditional diesel engine. That leads me to another Falkirk district connection: the advent of the enviro range of vehicles by local bus builder Alexander Dennis Ltd, or ADL. I am sure that the cabinet secretary will not mind me giving a plug to ADL, which is situated in his constituency, given that a large number of the workforce are resident in my constituency. The single-deck Enviro200 model is available in an electric variant and the double-deck Enviro400 model is available in biogas, hybrid and, as recently announced, hydrogen fuel cell variants. Those are all low and zero-emission solutions to the decarbonisation of our road transport networks.

Incidentally, I very much welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to continuing the green bus fund, of which ADL, as well as other bus builders, is a beneficiary.

Presiding Officer, I am aware that I am fast running out of time. Scotland is a small nation that has always had a reputation for being innovative and ambitious. The Government’s ambition for ULEVs in our communities is no different, and it is thanks to the work of the Government and its partners that we are building a country that is fit for the future, whatever may lie ahead of us.