The Scottish National Party has unveiled its General Election manifesto with new measures that would dramatically impact drivers.

Speaking at the manifesto launch in Edinburgh, First Minister John Swinney outlined the pledges from the SNP, saying that the party could create a "fairer" and "more prosperous economy".

He also hinted that independence talks would begin if the SNP wins a majority on the July 4 General Election, with voters set to head to the polls in two weeks.

As part of the plans laid out by the SNP manifesto would be to "develop road tax and fuel duty" to allow the Government to develop a new approach to funding road travel that meets the needs of the Scottish people.

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While the manifesto does not state how it will improve the system of taxation for motorists, the party has confirmed that it wants to make tax fairer for all.

Many experts have suggested the use of road pricing or pay-per-mile schemes as this would only charge drivers for the amount that they drive, although certain motorists would be given help.

Measures, some of which have been backed by major organisations, include giving rural drivers "extra miles" to ensure they are not unfairly charged for using the roads when they are further away from basic amenities.

Another of the key pledges of the SNP manifesto is to remove the rate of VAT from on-street electric vehicle charging.

At present, people without driveways are having to pay "pavement tax" as they will need to use public electric car charging points more often, thus paying more.

Public EV chargers have an average VAT rate of 20 per cent, much higher than the five per cent rate on home chargers.

Drivers with chargers at home can also benefit from far lower costs with EV-specific tariffs and cheaper electricity costs. They will remove any costs of using public chargers, which can be far higher when taking subscription costs into account.

Experts have long been calling for political parties to campaign for the pavement tax to be scrapped to help ensure people without driveways or off-street parking are not put off from switching to EVs.

The SNP has pledged to focus on strengthening incentives to purchase cleaner vehicles, highlighting the grants on offer in France.

The manifesto calls on the UK Government to establish a new Low Income EV Car Leasing Fund, backed up by at least £500million, to enable 50,000 EV leases a year to benefit low-income families.

Some local authorities around Scotland already have lease schemes in place allowing families and those on lower incomes to use an electric vehicle on weekends.

As part of this, the import and sale of new, non-zero emission buses would be banned by 2025, as well as promoting a "fair and affordable" transition to zero emission transport fuels.

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The manifesto added: "Reducing road traffic is key to cutting emissions, but in a rural and sparsely populated country, not everywhere and everyone can be expected to make the same changes at the same time.

"It is vital that we ensure roads are as safe, reliable and resilient as possible. We are committed to dualling the A9 in full between Perth and Inverness and improving the A96, including dualling Inverness to Nairn and the Nairn Bypass.

"We will press the UK Government to fulfil their commitment to fund improvements to the A75."