This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter.

It is, for those who weren’t aware of it, World EV Day, and this has brought forth a flurry of stories, including the news that the UK has the second most electrified vehicles registered in Europe (after Germany) and that free charging is being offered, for today, at Legoland.

Often when we think about net zero and cars, this is what we think of: the shift from fossil fuel to travel charged by a future clean energy grid. But, of course, a genuinely green future isn’t just electric, it is also about less cars, fewer vehicles sitting doing nothing or blocking up the roads, and avoiding the replacement of a greenhouse gas problem with an e-waste issue.

For a great many of us, the EV still seems unattainable. For me that’s partly because it’s too much of a financial stretch but also because I live in what we call a ‘double upper’ in built-up Leith, with no obvious access to an easy and reliable charge point. A second-hand petrol or diesel still seems both financially and practically more feasible.

Car ownership in the UK is increasing, but, as with all things, there are those that buck the trend. I’m one of a handful of city dwellers I know who, having owned a car for decades, is now taking a pause from the habit, possibly to come back to it, possibly not. The reason, for us, is in part financial, but also about exploring what it would mean to live without a car, and reduce our carbon........

© Herald Scotland