New analysis by Nissan has found that there will be more public locations to charge electric cars in the UK than there are petrol stations by the summer of 2020.
Nissan has found that at the end of 2015, there were just 8,472 fuel stations in the UK, down from 37,539 in 1970. That means Britain has lost more than 75 per cent of petrol stations in four decades. By contrast, the accelerating adoption of electric vehicles means this crossover could happen a lot sooner.
Assuming a steady rate of decline, it’s being predicted by various sources (including Energy Institute and Zap-Map) that by August 2020 the number of UK fuel stations will fall to under 7,870. By the same point of time it’s predicted that the number of public electric vehicle charging locations will reach 7,900. Nissan adds though that the accelerating adoption of electric vehicles means this crossover could happen much sooner.
Electric cars could outsell petrol and diesel by 2027
According to government-backed car industry campaign Go Ultra Low, over 115 electric cars were registered every day in the first quarter of 2016, equivalent to one every 13 minutes. The campaign also believes that electric power could be the dominant form of propulsion for all new cars sold in the UK as early as 2027, with more than 1.3m electric cars registered each year.
With the LEAF hatchback, Nissan became the first major manufacturer to introduce a mass-produced electric vehicle and has sold more electric vehicles than any other car brand worldwide. The Nissan LEAF 30kWh, launched in January, delivers an official travel range of up to 155 miles on a single charge.
Check out our video review of the Nissan LEAF 30kWh to see what we made of it:
