Diesel owners won’t be able to fill up their cars at petrol stations within a matter of years, with diesel likely to completely disappear from forecourts, according to a new report. Diesel fuel could become extinct at petrol stations across the UK after experts suggested it could become a major problem in the “2030s”.
It means the availability of diesel fuel could dramatically drop within just four years, but experts predict the compound will likely completely disappear by 2035. Motoring specialists from New AutoMotive have predicted the “death of diesel” in a new report looking at the trends moving forward.
The report explained: “It is highly likely that as diesel vehicles get scarcer, filling station owners will question how much, if any, diesel fuel they should stock. At some future point, diesel simply won’t be available at the majority of filling stations.
“For individuals, the situation is trickier. There is a real chance of some people being left with stranded assets: that is, they have a vehicle that they can’t reasonably fuel (the nearest filling station is, in their opinion, too far away), and can’t sell at a price they consider reasonable. This is a problem for the 2030s, but is something that Government should be aware of.”
According to New AutoMotive, by 2035, many filling stations will have completely stopped selling diesel. Meanwhile, they report some cities are already close to becoming diesel-free, with specialists estimating that some stations in London will stop stocking diesel fuel before the end of the current decade.
Data from the group shows that at its peak, there were around 17.5 million diesel vehicles on the road, with 15.5 million still being used today.
They claim that around a million diesel vehicles will also be scrapped annually before the end of the 2020s. It means that diesel ownership could fall as low as 250,000 by the next ten years.
New AutoMotive added: “It’s clear that diesel use is dying. Policy ensures that the last new diesel car and van will not be sold post-2034, but the reality is that the market suggests that this date will be a lot sooner anyway.
“Overall car numbers are now falling rapidly, with van numbers likely to start falling in the next few years.”
