(Paisley) (SNP):
...Elon Musk is having a problem. It is difficult to start
a company and go from zero to whatever overnight, as he has done
with Tesla cars. However, he has not delivered on any of the
targets that he, as a manufacturer, has set. He probably has more
chance of reaching Mars with his other project than he has of
reaching some of the car vehicle targets that he has made. In all
honesty, that is what the motoring press would tell us.
Yesterday, I read that Norway is the
biggest market for Tesla in Europe, but that the Netherlands
nearly beat it—it was just a hundred cars short—because companies
there, including major car rental companies, bought 8,585
vehicles. As I have said, I have dealt with the corporate-fleet
world, so I think that what will make the difference is getting
it and industry to think that way and to see electric vehicles as
the way forward...
(Aberdeenshire West)
(Con)::...Unfortunately, the uptake of
electric vehicles in Scotland is nowhere near where it needs to
be to achieve the Scottish National Party Government’s aim to
phase out new petrol and diesel cars by 2032. Given that electric
vehicles accounted for only 1.77 per cent of new vehicle
registrations in 2016, which was up by just 0.09 per cent from
2015, at this rate it will take a thousand years for the SNP to
achieve its goal. Worryingly, that will possibly be after Tesla
reaches Mars, as the former car salesman pointed out...
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