UK petrol and diesel stations are facing extinction by 2038, according to national EV charging network Be.EV.
Data it has brought together shows that the typical forecourt has been in terminal decline with numbers decreasing from roughly 40,000 in 1967 to 8,353 in 2023, which is a decrease of 75%.
The decline is expected to continue as major fuel retailers introduce EV charging hubs to boost power for the drivers who don’t have access to home chargers or need to recharge on journeys.
Some of the biggest fossil fuel giants have already seen the writing on the wall and are preparing for petrol and diesel’s funeral. Shell announced last year that it is divesting 1,000 of its retail petrol and diesel stations by the end of 2025 to put into EV charging stations instead.
Furthermore BP, which recently made a well-publicised and criticised move away from green energy, is still planning to sell off 1,200 petrol stations, showing even fossil fuel lovers have given up on petrol and diesel.
Fortunately, EV charging is rapidly stepping up to fill the gap. Not only are there one million home chargers installed that allow drivers to top up at home, but there there already ten times as many public chargers as petrol stations.
The infrastructure to supply drivers looking for quick top-ups on longer journeys is rapidly stepping up to fill the gap that petrol stations are leaving behind.
The number of rapid/ultra-rapid charging hubs increased by 103% between 2023 and 2024, and if this growth is maintained, the number of rapid and ultra-rapid hubs will outnumber ICE filling stations by mid-2033. This milestone will signal the death knell for the fossil fuel stations as we know them.
As EV charging hub demand rises and petrol stations fall, Be.EV is showing the industry how to put old petrol station land to use with the new Manchester Charging Oasis.
This EV charging hub of the future has been built on the site of an old petrol station abandoned for 15 years in Failsworth, Manchester. As part of the project, Be.EV commissioned a decontamination process to make the land fit for EV charging, one of the first times this has been done in the UK.
Not only is it putting old land to work, it’s making the EVs charging even more accessible for drivers, as they can top up at the site for 50p/KWh, which is the cheapest ultra-rapid charge in Manchester.
Be.EV is calling on the government and other EV charging providers to follow its lead and start figuring out a plan to make this soon-to-be derelict land useful for UK motorists.
Asif Ghafoor (above), CEO of Be.EV said, “It seems that petrolheads should be worried about finding themselves stranded with nowhere to fill up. There are so many headlines about range anxiety for EVs, yet petrol station numbers have been tumbling at such a rate that it might soon be commonplace for petrol drivers to struggle to find a pump.
“Rapid and ultra-rapid EV charging is rapidly stepping in to fill the gap, but we need the government and other charging providers to put old petrol station land to use. We’ve shown the industry how to do it with the Manchester Charging Oasis.
“It’s clear we need to call the undertaker in for petrol and diesel stations, and start putting this soon-to-be-useless land to work so it gives our drivers the rapid and ultra-rapid charging they need.”