Scotland reissues grant funding for e-car clubs and used EVs

The Scottish Government is providing over £30 million this financial year to accelerate the shift to zero-emission transport. The grant funding scheme this time focuses on community transport and car clubs in addition to interest-free loans for electric vehicles.

“Our funding package of over £30 million for zero-emission grants and loans will be refocussed to support the many people and businesses, particularly in rural areas,” said Minister for Transport Jenny Gilruth when announcing the latest package.

Funding is further being prioritised to focus on those operating light commercial vehicles as part of their business, and the taxi sector writes the Government.

“We’re aligning our funding streams to reduce overall car kilometres travelled by 20% by 2030,” added Gilruth, meaning electric car clubs.

Zero-emission car clubs offer communities flexible and affordable access to the latest electric vehicles without the financial commitment of car ownership, the department points out. Transport Scotland has been running the ‘Plugged In Communities’ programme for some time. The Government says that the funding has helped establish 38 car club vehicles with another 16 planned, with vehicles covering over 400,000 zero-emission miles across Scotland.

Over the last ten years, the list continues with funding having provided over £165 million of interest-free loans to support the purchase of over 6,100 vehicles, says Transport Scotland.

Neil Leckie, Senior Programme Manager at Energy Saving Trust that helps distribute the funds, said they looked forward “to continuing to create lasting change” and that the new grants would now include used electric vehicles.

The ‘Used Electric Vehicle loan’ offers eligible drivers in Scotland an interest-free loan of up to £30,000 to cover the cost of purchasing a used electric car or van, or up to £5,000 for the purchase of a used electric motorcycle or moped.

Regarding charging infrastructure, the department says £4.9 million helped support the installation of over 16,000 home charge points, with another £10 million to deliver 1,500 charge points to businesses.

This incentivisation funding is separate from the £50 million investment to establish 2,200 public charge points over the same period as reported. A separate £47 million has also been invested in introducing 3,450 vehicles into the public sector fleet, so the government.

Application for the new grants open on 8 June across Scotland.

energysavingtrust.org.uk (full info on grants), transportscotland-newsroom.com (PI)