Japanese car maker Nissan has predicted that by 2020 the UK will have more electric car charging stations than petrol stations.
Nissan predicts that by August 2020 the number of conventional fuel stations will fall to fewer than 7,870. It backs up its claim with data from the Energy Institute and Zap-Map, a website that shows the location of charging stations in the UK.
The number of public electric vehicle charging locations is expected to reach 7,900 in 2020.
The accelerating popularity of electric vehicles means this crossover could happen sooner. Some 15 electric cars were registered every day in the first quarter of 2016, equivalent to one every 13 minutes.
Electric power could be the dominant form of propulsion for all new cars sold in the UK as early as 2027, with more than 1.3 million electric cars registered each year.
More than 75% of UK petrol stations have closed in the past 40 years: at the end of 2015, there were 8,472 fuel stations in the UK, compared with 37,539 in 1970. By contrast, the number of charging locations has increased from a few hundred in 2011 to more than 4,100 in 2016.
Nissan was the first car maker to introduce a mass-produced electric vehicle and has sold more EVs than any other car brand worldwide.
Nissan has recently partnered with Foster + Partners to create the "Fuel Station of the Future" (pictured) and a self-driving car that can power a home.
Image: The Fuel Station of the Future? (Foster + Partners)
