Friday June 5th 2026
Glasgow Council chamber
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Catherine Hunter
Questions over the financial benefits of upgrading the city council’s service fleet and introducing more electric vehicles have been raised by a local councillor.
During yesterday’s scrutiny committee, Councillor Chris Cunningham stated that there were “obvious climate change benefits” from the move but asked if there was any financial gain in the short term.
Glasgow City Council currently uses a fleet of approximately 1200 vehicles including 22 electric vehicles to support services – 18 cars and four electric sweepers.
The council is expected to conduct a strategic review of all vehicles in the fleet to identify a prioritised and phased programme of vehicles replacement based on available funding.
It is used to support service delivery of roads and parks services vehicles, street lighting maintenance, disposal and refuse collection, winter gritting, street sweeping, street drainage, school and social Work buses, light vehicles and vans for general use.
Councillor Chris Cunningham said: “My question is about EV infrastructure and the transformation to electric vehicles.
“There are obvious climate change benefits from moving to electric vehicles but part one of my question is whether or not there are also financial gains from doing so in the short term.
“My second question is what is the mechanism or the protocol for moving from an internal combustion engine vehicle to an electric vehicle.
“Is it a case of when a vehicle reaches the end of its natural life then the change is made to an electric vehicle or is there a plan to move to a set number of EVs per year?
“Given the goal of 2030, is the change to electric vehicles and the change to infrastructure, tied into the 2030 goal?”
A council officer said that they believed that was part of the climate plan.
“They said: “I can bring an answer back on that one for you, Councillor Cunningham in relation to where we are progressing to complete the electric vehicle fleet from our new head of transport.”
Tweet Share on Facebook
