Scotland scheme offers £50,000 electric car loans

Businesses also offered interest-free loans of up to £100,000 towards electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles under £2.5m Scottish Government scheme

Scottish motorists will have access to an interest-free loan of up to £50,000 to buy an electric or plug-in hybrid vehicle under a new scheme funded by the Scottish Government.

The £2.5m fund is aimed at boosting uptake of low emission vehicles

Businesses can also apply for an interest-free loan, which is being offered by not-for-profit social enterprise Energy Saving Trust, of up to £100,000 for electric vehicles.

The Electric Vehicle Loan can cover 100% of the purchase price of a new vehicle and is repayable over a period of up to six years.

The £2.5 million fund is now open to applications from anyone looking to buy a new electric or plug-in hybrid car or van and comes in addition to full grant funding currently available through the ChargePlace Scotland programme for electric car drivers to install a charge point at home.

Furthermore, according to Energy Saving Trust, the vast majority of public ChargePlace Scotland charge points are also free to use.

The new Electric Vehicle Loan is also being offered in addition to the UK government’s existing Plug-in Vehicle Grant Scheme, which offers up to £5,000 towards a new electric or plug-in hybrid car and £8,000 towards a van.

Scottish Transport Minister, Derek Mackay, said: “Encouraging mass changeover to electric vehicles, from more polluting ones running on petrol or diesel, is a key to cleaner road transport in Scotland and a fundamental factor in achieving our ambitious climate change targets while also improving local air quality.

“Electric vehicles already offer large savings to drivers through reduced fuel and taxation costs and this fund will further encourage new buyers by addressing the current cost premium often cited as a barrier to making the switch.  I am pleased we are adding this incentive to the growing package of support measures for EVs outlined in the ‘Switched on Scotland’ policy roadmap.”

Harry Mayers, head of new services at the Energy Saving Trust, said: “We’re seeing an increasing amount of interest in electric cars as the technology develops and the charging infrastructure continues to grow across Scotland. This loan fund from Transport Scotland will help people to turn that interest into action and benefit from the long-term cost savings that electric cars offer.

“Electric cars cost around 3p per mile to run, compared with around 15p per mile for the average petrol car, and incur no road tax. They also help to reduce local air and noise pollution, contributing towards a greener, healthier Scotland.”

All applications to the fund close on 31 March 2016.