Glasgow councillors have agreed to spend £1.35m on 87 electric vehicles despite warnings that there must be enough charging stations throughout the city to accommodate them.

The new cars will upgrade part of the current fleet and will be used instead of the 180 Nissan Leafs which have reached the end of their contract and need to be replaced in 2025.

There are already around 1600 vehicles which help deliver frontline services, such as healthcare, to city residents and since 2019, 325 electric vehicles have been procured as the council has a commitment to develop a net-zero fleet by 2030.

The new electric vehicles are required to have larger batteries compared to the existing Nissan Leaf cars to provide a greater range.

During last week’s contracts and property committee, questions were raised about the number of vehicles being bought and whether more charging points would be needed as a result.

Councillor Philip Braat said: “The fact that we are potentially investing in a number of Nissan leaf vehicles who have a greater range which means not having to queue up at charging points.

“That brings me onto another point of should we not also be investing in charging points – so to avoid issues should we not be investing in charging infrastructure.

“I want to make sure we are able to charge the vehicles as that is becoming a rising issue.”

A council officer confirmed that the local authority would be purchasing 87 vehicles with the money because the fleet they currently have is coming to the end of its lease next year.

They will be able to use the same charging points already available. 

They said: “I take the point about increasing charging facilities and that is something that is happening under a separate initiative and will be rolled out in the Glasgow City Region over the next few years.”