During the Covid-19 pandemic, we have tried to regularly highlight the ecological impact that has been witnessed throughout the world as a result of decreased human activity. Throughout lockdown there has been a near 50% fall in airborne pollutant levels in the UK. Some of the most significant decreases have been on the congested roads of Scotland’s central belt cities. Nitrogen oxide levels on Glasgow’s Hope St and Edinburgh’s St John’s Rd fell by 80%, according to Professor James Lee from the National Centre of Atmospheric Science at the University of York. The Scottish Government have been praised worldwide for their handling the pandemic, medically and economically. We now believe it is time to give Scotland a pat on the back for its environmental ambition as we look towards life after Covid-19.
Firstly, Scotland has become a haven for electric car drivers, with widely available electric charge points. We have already mentioned Edinburgh among our top cities in the UK for electric travel, while Glasgow and Dundee are not far behind in terms of investment in new charge points and the development of electric infrastructure. Furthermore, at the end of May, along with the central belt, The Highlands also ranked in the top 10 places for electric vehicle charge points according to comparethemarket.com. This is no surprise, given the level of investment in this region as a result of the burgeoning popularity of The North Coast 500 and other driving routes around the North.
Secondly, Scotland has some major new carbon neutral developments beginning over the next few months. One such development is the Perth West project, for which planning permission was officially sought in May 2020. Described as Scotland’s ‘largest carbon-neutral development’, the Perth West project includes plans for a national innovation business park and some 1,500 homes, leisure and educational provision supported by a smart energy grid. This new development is part of Perth’s plan to becoming ‘the most sustainable small city in Europe’.
It is not just major infrastructure projects that are witnessing the green effect. We ourselves are seeing a huge increase in the number of commercial charge point installations which are taking place at new home and office developments. Since 2018, it has been mandatory for new housing developments to have electric vehicle charging capacity. However, our recent experience suggests that Scottish housebuilders are going above and beyond in their drive to make more sustainable, greener housing across Scotland in response to consumer demand.
If you are a business owner or site planner and you are looking to start a commercial install of electric vehicle charge points, please get in touch. A member of our team would be happy to any questions that you have about grant application and commercial charge point installation. We can also conduct a no-commitment virtual consultation or socially distanced site visit. Call us on 0141 280 8890 or drop us an email.
We also have a variety of platforms available with extensive information about electric vehicles , EV chargepoints (evchargepoints.com) and EE accessories .
