Electric vehicles (EVs) are to play a critical role in decarbonising Scotland’s transport sector. The Scottish Government will support an increase in the proportion of electric vehicles on Scotland’s roads through investing in electric vehicle infrastructure and converting the public sector vehicle fleets.

To date, the expansion of the UK’s EV market has been evaluated by monitoring EV registrations across the UK as a whole.  This policy brief provides a spatial analysis of  EV sales in the UK, with a particular focus on Scotland, to evaluate how EV registrations are occurring across different geographical areas.

The analysis reveals that Scotland ranks ahead of Wales and Northern Ireland in EV adoption, with EVs representing 0.05 of Scotland’s total car fleet.  Adoption rates vary signficantly between local authority areas in Scotland and correspond with levels of installed EV infrastructure, as well as socio-economic characteristics.

These findings improve understanding of Scotland’s developing EV market, enabling the consideration of local circumstances in policy development.