Council chiefs hope the Scottish Government will offer money to help reach Holyrood targets for having an eco-friendly fleet of vehicles.
The slow pace of change in the manufacture of larger vehicles has left Aberdeenshire Council struggling to keep up with legislation demanding that petrol and diesel use is phased out.
Cars need to be replaced by 2025, and all other vehicles by 2032, but there is doubt over whether suitable alternatives for HGVs and other larger vehicles will be available by then.
Ewan Wallace, the authority’s head of transportation, presented councillors with a new strategy to meet the target yesterday.
He said: “2025 is not far away and we need to balance change. Replacing our larger vehicles will be one of the biggest challenges for us.”
Chairman of the infrastructure services committee, Peter Argyle, raised hopes that the government, which has set the legislation to decarbonise vehicles, will assist in funding the change.
He said: “We do have some challenges and need to recognise costs, which will be very significant.
“Replacing every vehicle in our fleet will not be cheap. We need to grapple with that as we also grapple with funding for our other issues such as bridges and roads.”
Councillor Colin Pike questioned whether manufactures would keep pace with the council’s need to replace its fleet, and stressed that all new technology would need to be thoroughly tested.
