The rise and fall of the petrol station

The Driven

It is coming up to a century since the first fuel station was installed in the UK – the first opened in November 1919 at Aldermaston in Berkshire – and there are now about 8,400 of them scattered around the cities and countryside there.

However, in a sign of yet another ‘tipping point’ being passed in the EV revolution – that number is now exceeded by the number of public places to charge EVs!

By the way, if you are wondering what ICE vehicle owners did in the early days before fuel pumps – petrol was bought in two-gallon tins from all sorts of places, not just garages.

These included chemists, hardware shops and hotels – imagine the fire risks that presented, given the heavily regulated petrol station construction and maintenance industry that exists now. That period lasted some 20 plus years – which puts some of our early EV charging issues back into perspective!

But back to the present: Of these 8,400 UK fuel stations, more than 1,600 already provide DC fast-charging. According to Zap-Map, two new DC fast-chargers came online in the UK every day in the last month.

In fact, all UK motorway fuel stations now have charging stations installed, the majority of which provide a DC fast-charge option.

To read the full story on RenewEconomy’s electric vehicle dedicated site, The Driven, click here…