Try charging your new electric vehicle out the front of 60 apartments....
Scotland’s large number of tenement flats and lack of adequate off-street parking will hamper drivers switching to electric cars, a report predicts.Environmental charity WWF has concluded that, in order to meet Scottish Government targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, at least 290,000 petrol-driven cars will need to be replaced with electric ones by 2020, representing one in 10 vehicles on Scotland’s roads.The charity identified an equally challenging goal of ensuring electric vehicles comprise one in five cars sold by the same date in order to help bring down total carbon dioxide emissions by 42%.But the predominance of tenement housing in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen represents a significant hurdle to achieving this green revolution, the WWF said.It pointed to research which found that domestic charging of cars represented the most effective and efficient means of powering private vehicles as they did not require the installation of any additional infrastructure. Large cities represent the ideal place to roll-out electric vehicle technology as many of the trips are short distance, which they can handle without running out of power.However, the proportion of homes with garages or driveways where cars could be plugged into the mains is limited in Scotland. Glasgow had the lowest rate, with only 22% of homes having access to off-street parking; in Edinburgh it was less than a third; in Aberdeen, fewer than half of homes had off-street parking .Putting up publicly available on-street charging points is an “expensive solution” but one that local authorities and government would have to consider, WWF said...It is thought some investment for on-street charging facilities may be available from electricity companies which will benefit from related sales. However, it is unlikely this will be sufficient without public investment, industry sources claimed.
