UK petrol stations are facing extinction, according to EV charging company Be.EV, which points to research revealing that there will be nowhere to fill up ICE vehicles by 2038.
The company says the typical family run forecourt is in terminal decline, while some of the fossil fuel giants are already divesting sites and turning them into EV hubs instead.
Be.EV is calling on the government and other EV charging firms to follow its lead – and turn soon-to-be derelict forecourts into EV hubs.
It says it is showing the industry how to put old petrol station land to use with its new Manchester Charging Oasis. This EV charging hub has been built on the site of an old petrol station which had been 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, which it says is one of the first times this has been done in the UK.
Asif Ghafoor, CEO of Be.EV: “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.”
