Scotland is to phase out all new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2032, a full eight years earlier than the UK’s current target of 2040.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon outlined plans on Tuesday to massively expand Scotland’s support for electric and hybrid vehicles by vastly increasing the charging network that’s available in the country.
She also revealed that there were plans to turn the A9 road into Scotland’s first electric-enabled road, although she failed to give any specifics on what that would actually entail.
Scotland is the latest in an ever-increasing number of countries to make a pledge towards electric and hybrid vehicles.
The government recently announced that it would be phasing out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040 as part of a nationwide plan to slash air pollution levels in city centres such as London.
The UK certainly isn’t the first country to make this level of commitment. Earlier this year France confirmed it too would be phasing out the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2040 while the car manufacturer Volvo revealed it would only sell electric and hybrid vehicles from as early as 2019.
While 2040 might seem like a long time to wait, a recent report by Dutch bank ING predicted that all the vehicles sold in Europe by 2035 would be electric anyway.
The report also made some predictions that are sure to alleviate any concerns drivers have about the cost and range of electric vehicles.
While they currently hold a premium over their combustion-powered cousins, ING believes that as the scale of production increases, the cost of electric cars will drop dramatically within the next five years.
In addition, the report points out that advances in battery technology will almost certainly see electric cars equal or surpass petrol cars in range.