Welsh Government can learn a lot of lessons from the impressive work done to encourage use of Electric Vehicles (EVs) in Scotland, Plaid Cymru Assembly Member Rhun ap Iorwerth said, after meeting Dundee City Council and Scottish Government officials to discuss their EV infrastructure.

Dundee City Council has strategically invested in EV infrastructure over recent years and now has three large charging hubs across the City, almost 100 electric vehicles in its council fleet, and a significant fleet of EV taxis operates in the city, whereas Scotland in general saw a 43% increase in registrations of new EVs in 2017/18.

Mr ap Iorwerth visited elected members and council officials in Dundee for a tour of the city this week before heading to Edinburgh to meet with Scottish Government officials to learn more about the work that has been done to encourage an EV revolution across the country.

Mr ap Iorwerth said:

“Dundee is a city that has really embraced the 21st century. A city of jute, jam and journalism traditionally, now it is a city of video-gaming and electric vehicles. It has really embraced the future of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles, driven by people who know this is what we have to do and it is very impressive. There are lots of lessons for us to learn from the work that has been done in Dundee.

“Scotland decided some years ago to really take the bull by the horns with regards to the issue of electric vehicles. They decided they needed a strategy, and so they put one in place. They decided they needed to show that they were serious about a ULEV future, and there is much that we in Wales can learn from them.

“Plaid Cymru secured £2m from Welsh Government in a recent budget deal to kickstart a rapid-charge network around Wales, but it is a drop in the ocean. We need a Wales-wide strategy and I think there is a lot we can learn from Scotland.”