Nissan: EV charge points to outnumber petrol stations by 2020

The number of fuel stations in the United Kingdom are still likely to have more pumps available for auto drivers to use compared to charging points in 2020, but Nissan’s figures highlight the continued growth of the plug-in vehicle market.

Since December 2005, the United Kingdom has seen an average decrease of 129 petrol stations per year, coinciding with an annual increase of around 911 EV charging locations.

There are now more than 4,000 places in the United Kingdom where motorists can charge all-electric or hybrid vehicles. Based on the rate of decline in recent decades the number of petrol stations is likely to fall to under 7,870 by summer 2020, Nissan said.

Consequently, the number of fuel stations is expected to decrease by this date, with Nissan predicting that there will be just 7870 fuel stations left in August 2020, representing a loss of 602 stations compared with the end of 2015.

“Combine that with constant improvements in our battery performance and we believe the tipping point for mass EV uptake is upon us”.

This has resulted in the number of public charging points rise from a few hundred in 2011 to more than 4,100 in 2016.

The number of charging points has risen to meet demand from the growing number of electric vehicles on United Kingdom roads.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) recently predicted that sales of EVs will sky-rocket over the next 25 years, representing 35% of all new auto sales by 2040.

“A gradual uptake from early adopters accelerates to a groundswell of consumers buying electric vehicles just as they would any other powertrain”.

There are now nearly 50,000 electric and plug-in hybrid cars on United Kingdom roads.

This development could the increase driving range of future Nissan electric vehicles by 150%. The campaign also believes that electric power could be the dominant form of propulsion for all new cars sold in the United Kingdom as early as 2027, with more than 1.3m electric cars registered each year.

Nissan is the most successful EV manufacturer in the United Kingdom mainstream vehicle market, being the first to introduce a mass-produced EV – the Nissan Leaf, which remains the best-selling EV worldwide.

According to Nissan Motor GB’s EV manager Edward Jones as electric vehicle sales take off, the charging infrastructure is keeping pace.

According to Nissan’s research, 98 per cent of motorway services in the United Kingdom have chargers, and there are only four fuel stations in London’s congestion charge zone left.