TWO of Scotland's biggest companies are are joining forces in a unique 'go green' move to create the electric car-buying equivalent of the package holiday - as moves are made to ban older petrol and diesel cars around Scotland.
Glasgow-based energy firm ScottishPowerand Scotland's biggest car dealer Arnold Clark have come together in a bid to make buying electric cars easier - providing the car, the home charger and the green energy tariff in a oner.
The UK first comes as Glasgow is set to become the first city in Scotland to introduce a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) from the beginning of next year to help combat climate change.
In Glasgow older cars will be banned from the city centre in four years time after councillors agreed in June to extend the LEZ to all vehicles.
An LEZ will apply to 20% buses from the end of 2018, rising to 100% by December 2022. Cars will need to meet the strict standards from the end of 2022.
After that date petrol cars made before 2005 and diesels built before September 2014 will not be allowed in the zone.
ScottishPower says the new tie-up will provide the first full end-to-end package to make switching away from petrol and dieser easier and "accelerate the electrification of transport".
The move comes a fortnight after ScottishPower said it to become the first major UK energy company to switch to completely clean energy, replacing coal and gas with wind.
Keith Anderson, chief executive of ScottishPower CEO, said: "After removing carbon from how we generate electricity we believe the decarbonisation of the UK’s transport system has to be next.
“This means industry and Government working together to build the infrastructure so we can charge electric vehicles as well as building clean and cheap renewables to bring down the cost of motoring.
“The UK needs to decarbonise transport faster and we have to make the switch to electric vehicles simpler.”
Under the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme, customers in Scotland could get a £899 charge point for just £99.
Users may be entitled to a £500 grant (OLEV grant) towards the cost of a charge point subject to various conditions including having dedicated off-street parking. And in Scotland, the Energy Saving Trust may reimburse a further £300 towards the cost of a charge point.
ScottishPower said their survey of around 2,000 people found that one in three of those who don’t currently own an electric vehicle, would be more likely to consider purchasing one if the manufacturers guaranteed that their power would come from 100% renewable sources.
One motorists' organisation has warned ministers that plans to bring in an LEZ for Scotland will discriminate against the poor because low-income familes are more likely to be needing to run older vehicles.
And Friends of the Earth Scotland has said plans to ban high-polluting vehicles from Scotland’s city centres within the next few years are doomed to certain failure.
The group insisted an extended “grace period” giving motorists time to acquire cleaner vehicles will mean low emission zones will not be fully operational until 2024-26 at the earliest.
FoE Scotland has repeatedly criticised the Scottish Government’s LEZ legislation, insisting it lacks ambition and will not be enough to comply with clean air rules.
Earlier this month Glasgow's biggest bus operator First Glasgow said it is facing a bill of £100m over the next five years in order to meet strict new rules on air pollution.
The cost was revealed as unveiled the first of a fleet of new buses designed to operate in the city's planned Low Emission Zone (LEZ).
How it works
ScottishPower say the package deal with Arnold Clark allows buyers to purchase or lease an electric vehicle, and are automatically offered the choice of booking a home charging point installation through ScottishPower. The charger is offered on condition users take up a ScottishPower's 'competitive' renewable electricity tariff. Users do not have to use ScottishPower.
As part of the same process, customers will receive what ScottishPower say is UK’s “smallest fast charging point” as well as having access to the ScottishPower App to facilitate smart charging. This will allows the vehicle to be charged remotely via a smart phone.
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