SCOTLAND is second best in the UK for providing charging points for electric vehicles but many areas south of the border are "falling short", new analysis has indicated.

Despite rising demand for electric vehicles and increasing awareness of the health issues caused by poor air quality, there are currently almost 17,000 people for every publicly available charge point, research by HSBC found.

The North East of England has the highest level of provision, with 664 charge points across the area, representing one for every 3,931 people.

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Scotland was next best, with 743 charge points across the country - meaning there is one for every 7,127 people.

Scotland was said to have some of the most well-developed publicly-funded electric vehicle infrastructure, as it emerged nearly three quarters of the UK population has limited access to publicly-funded chargepoints.

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While around 47,000 plug-in cars were registered in 2017, only 173 new, publicly-funded chargepoints became available that same year.

It is widely thought that the number of electric vehicle chargepoints registered in the UK will grow exponentially in the next five years, but HSBC warns this is unlikely unless private sector investment increases.

Scott McClurg, head of energy and sustainability for HSBC Corporate Banking, said: “Chargepoints are a vital barometer for the health of the electric vehicle market. Infrastructure is fundamental to the successful transition to emission-free driving and so far the UK is falling short in many regions.

“While the major forecourt owners plan how to balance rising demand for chargepoints with the ongoing need for petrol and diesel pumps, there is an opportunity for private investors to plug the chargepoint gap across the UK.”

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The bank says just four regions of the UK have an above-average number of public chargepoints per person.

The populations of Scotland and Northern Ireland also enjoy more than the UK average number of chargepoints per head.

However, the majority of the country still suffers from massive gaps in public chargepoint infrastructure and in Wales, around 100,000 people (98,806) must share each public chargepoint available.

Mr McClurg added: “National Grid recently announced plans to overcome the challenge of long-distance electric vehicle travel. Urgent attention must now be given to local, urban solutions as more consumers and businesses transition to electric vehicles.

“If Scotland is to shift to electric vehicles in the long term, the overall volume of chargepoints has to improve across the board. While there are clear opportunities to meet rising demand through the private sector, local authorities and central government are also looking closely at this space to ensure the right infrastructure is in place.”

HSBC has installed over 40 electric vehicle chargepoints at its offices around the UK and plans to add more in 2018.

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Scotland appears to be more keen to embrace the technology as sales of electric vehicle registrations are rising twice as fast in Scotland than the rest of the UK, the motor trade industry said in January.

Motorists registered 6,565 alternative fuel vehicles in Scotland last year - a 68 per cent rise on the 3,897 sold in 2016.

There were 113,821 such cars sold in the rest of the UK, a rise of only 34 per cent on the 84,994 in 2016.

Alternative fuel cars include electric vehicles powered only by mains electricity, plug-in hybrids which have a mains powered battery a back-up fuel tank, and unplugged hybrids which switch between petrol and diesel and an internal generator.