I was fortunate enough last week to attend an Electric Car Workshop based at the SSE Building at 1 Waterloo Street, Glasgow. It was great to see so many types of electric cars, and to actually get a testdrive in one. How nippy they are, and very efficient naturally, albeit much more expensive to purchase in the first place. We were advised that although more costly to purchase, over a 5 year period, between the reduced costs or no cost for fuel and less maintence, if you average 12,000 miles a year, it works out about the same. The infrastructure of having charging stations is another matter that needs to be looked into, however there was a representative there from Glasgow City Council and he advised that they are hoping that the majority of the vehicles that will be used for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 will be electric and therefore they will need to start installing charging stations through out the city. Another lady at the workshop advised that she had been visiting a new supermarket in Stirling and they had built in an electric charging station into the petrol station. So everything is moving in the right direction. Electric cars are now averaging between 80-100 mile radius, and if one day we could get funding, would be great for island driving.
In the meantime if you would like to test drive one of the cars just contact the SSE on 0141 224 7592 or email scottish-hydro-centre@sse.com
Happy motoring
