NHS Scotland has been awarded £1.36mn through the Transport Scotland Switched on Fleets Fund to support 112 new electric cars, Transport Scotland announced on 15 November.
The vehicles, which will increase the number of Ultra-Low Emission vehicles in the NHS shared service fleet by almost 80%, will replace existing fossil fuelled vehicles across a number of NHS shared service functions and regions.
The transition to electrification is expected to reduce the CO2 equivalent tailpipe emissions by at least 168 tonnes a year.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Infrastructure and Connectivity Michael Matheson said: “NHS Scotland is demonstrating leadership by moving at an incredible pace in taking steps to improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions through their plans to decarbonise their vehicle fleet. The 2019 Programme for Government outlined our commitment to phase out the need for new petrol or diesel cars in the public sector fleet by 2025 and for all other vehicles in the public sector fleet by 2030.”