Expert tells MSPs there is more ‘confidence’ in electric-powered HGVs

An independent expert at the Climate Change Committee (CCC) has said there is “a lot more confidence” that the market is looking towards electric-powered HGVs.

Speaking at a Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee in Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, Dr Eoin Devane, head of carbon budgets at the CCC, said that progress was being made in the electric vehicle sector.

He said: “You can see the progress has been made in the light duty sector quite remarkably over recent years. In Scotland in 2023 battery electric vehicles reached about 12% of car sales, so they’re reaching the mass market.

“What’s more, battery prices have fallen quite steeply and that’s translated to electric vehicles being price-competitive now in the used vehicle sector.”

Dr Devane said that while progress on electric heavy goods vehicles was at an earlier stage it is now being “adopted by most major manufacturers”.

He said: “On the heavy goods vehicles side we recognise things are at a much earlier stage of the market but there is read-across from that light duty vehicle market.

“Progress in batteries is impressive even in the heavier duty batteries that are needed for heavy goods vehicles and we see most of the major manufacturers bringing to market electric options – and indeed, many of the big fleets beginning to adopt them.

“That’s not to say we are anywhere near as far along as we are with cars and there will need to be more progress in things like making sure depots can connect to the grid when they need to and rollout of public charging that works for heavy duty vehicles.

“We have a lot more confidence than we did five years ago that this is the direction this market is going, but we have caveated that it is an early stage and there is some potential that things will go in a different direction, so we’re not entirely ruling out hydrogen in certain use cases but we expect in most cases electric to be the dominant choice.”

The committee met for members of the CCC to share evidence after the Scottish Government received advice from the CCC on May 21 2025 on setting carbon budgets for Scotland.

The CCCs advice sets out recommended carbon budget levels which lead to Scotland meeting its statutory target of reaching net zero by 2045.

They recommended budget levels be set at 57% lower than 1990 levels for the First Carbon Budget which is between 2026 to 2030 and increasing between Carbon Budgets until they are 94% lower than 1990 levels for the Fourth Carbon Budget between 2041-2045.

Within the CCCs advice, transport is a key component to emission reduction. The CCC recommends a 6% reduction in car use by 2035 in order for Scotland to meet proposed carbon budgets.

However, Edward Mountain MSP, the convener for the Scottish Parliament’s Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee expressed concerns on how the Government would deliver on this 6% figure for those in rural communities in Scotland.

He said: “You can’t increase rate tax or fuel prices in those rural areas without penalising them for it and you can’t give them public transport because there isn’t capacity or there isn’t the wish to have public transport at the moment.”

Dr Devane replied that the percentage was focused on more urban areas than rural, where there is higher access to public transport.

He said: “The percentages are much more skewed towards urban areas and most of our reduction is taking place not in those rural communities so we wouldn’t be assuming as high a reduction in rural areas.

“The 6% is based on real world evidence of schemes that have delivered those types of reduction.”

Following the evidence session with the CCC the Committee will take further evidence related to the regulations from academics on the science of climate change, emission reduction and adapting to the impacts of climate change.

The Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Energy will then provide evidence to the Committee on the regulations and the motion on the instrument will be taken.