Posts have been shared on social media which claim that 20 Tesla cars have been bought to transport conference delegates to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, also known as COP26. The posts state that as the hotel that the delegates will be staying in only has one Tesla compatible charging point (or in some versions of the post, none), diesel powered generators have been purchased or contracted to charge the cars. One post says these were purchased by the Scottish government.
A Cabinet Office spokesperson told Full Fact that while delegates are encouraged to use public transport as much as possible, world leaders will be provided with electric vehicles for the duration of their stay.
It has already been announced that Jaguar Land Rover is COP26’s official partner and will be providing electric vehicles for the summit. The Cabinet Office also confirmed that none of the supplied electric vehicles will be Tesla vehicles, although added that it is possible that visiting delegates could have their own vehicle arrangements.
The Cabinet Office also told Reuters Fact Check that it was “still working through where and how many generators will be needed.”
Any generators required for the charging of the electric vehicles will, as has been reported by the Scotsman, run on recycled cooking oil (hydrogenated vegetable oil), rather than diesel.