The Scottish government has unveiled a £4.2m tranche of funding to encourage public bodies to replace conventionally powered cars with low carbon vehicles.
The new funding builds on around £4.3m made available last year, which resulted in 145 low carbon vehicles being purchased by public sector bodies and the installation of a further 74 electric vehicle charging points.
"This extra funding will allow local authorities and their community planning partners to bridge the gap between the cost of petrol or diesel powered vehicles and their electric powered equivalents, and help drive down air-polluting emissions," said Alex Neil, cabinet secretary for infrastructure and capital investment, in a statement.
"This exciting scheme has the potential to directly support innovative Scottish companies at the forefront of electric vehicle and battery production, and the expansion of these kinds of businesses will help support and create jobs, in turn supporting sustainable economic growth."
The announcement comes just days after new figures showed that the adoption of electric vehicles across the UK remains lower than anticipated. Just 786 cars have taken advantage of the government's plug-in car grant, despite the incentive scheme having budget to support 8,600 cars.
However, industry experts are convinced that demand will pick up next year when a wave of new plug-in hybrid cars becomes available, and corporate and public sector customers are expected to play a major role in driving adoption.
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