A Lanarkshire town has been named the best place in Scotland to own an electric vehicle in a recent study.
Leading car brand MINI commissioned the Electric Progress Report - an in-depth research piece utilising government data on publicly available charge points and private electric vehicle ownership to reveal which cities are the best for electric car owners
And according to findings East Kilbride is the best town in Scotland and the eighth best place in the UK to own an electric vehicle due to the 148 publicly available charge devices and 855 privately registered Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) within the town.
This equates to just six registered electrical vehicles for every one publicly available charge point.
ULEV ownership in East Kilbride is also predicted to grow by 33 per cent in 2022 to 1176 privately registered vehicles, based on historic growth.
In addition to the index which reveals which cities are the best for electric car owners, MINI also commissioned a survey of 1152 young drivers to see if this eco-conscious generation is driving the demand for electric vehicles.
Nearly half (47 per cent) of those asked from Scotland said their next car purchase would be electric if there were no barriers to purchase and 49 per cent said they’d feel confident in owning and maintaining one.
But overall, only three per cent of 18 to 30-year-olds in the UK currently own an electric car.
The survey revealed that the biggest barriers to ownership are cost and range.
Over half of respondents (57 per cent) said they were worried about the cost of charging electric cars, and concern remains high for the range of mileage they currently provide (52 per cent).
Two in five (43 per cent) said that they are worried about the availability of public charging point devices and that EVs are simply too expensive to buy (41 per cent).
Federico Izzo, director for MINI UK and Ireland, said: “It’s encouraging to see the overall findings of the Electric Progress Report are positive and show that the UK is making nationwide strides to support electric mobility and a greener future."
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