Scottish company Intelligent Car Leasing sent Freedom of Information requests to 435 UK councils, with 134 confirming they run at least one electric vehicle in their fleet. In total, UK councils operate 531 EVs.

Pete McAllister, who conducted the study, commented: “With one in three local councils adopting electric vehicles on some level it paints an encouraging picture. I think as electricity production in the UK becomes more fuelled by renewables the number of councils adopting electric powered transport will vastly increase.”

Dundee City Council topped the list with 38 EV’s, reflecting a wider trend as four of the top five councils were situated north of the border. This ties in with the Scottish Government’s green initiative to have 100% of electricity demand met via renewable sources by 2020.

Bumper year

More broadly, the rate at which UK councils are taking up EVs “absolutely dwarfs the private sector”.

It’s almost impossible to imagine that if you were to survey all private sector companies in the UK, that one in thre would have at least one electric vehicle in their fleet,” said the report.

The wider low-emission vehicle market enjoyed a bumper 2014, as sales of alternatively-fuelled vehicles (AFVs) – including electric cars and hybrids – rose by 58% last year, with 51,739 new AFVs registered.

Last month, Japanese carmaker Toyota announced it would freely share all of its hydrogen fuel cell technology in order to spur development of low-emission cars around the world. Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors took a similar step in making its patents available to other carmakers late last year.

Find out how many EVs your council operates here.

Brad Allen

Action inspires action. Stay ahead of the curve with sustainability and energy newsletters from edie

Subscribe