As part of Shell’s efforts to endorse clean motoring, the company is preparing to open a service station with only alternative fuels. The new “no-petrol” station, the first of its kind in the UK, will replace gas and diesel pumps with biofuels, hydrogen cell refueling, and electric vehicle charging units. Additionally, it will be powered by renewable energy from solar panels on the roof.
Plans are in the early stages, but The Telegraph reports that the station will open in central London next year. The shift to electric vehicles has been hastened by the UK government’s recently-announced ban on the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars after 2040. Motorists will be encouraged to switch to electric or hybrid vehicles as part of the Government’s Air Quality Plan, tackling air pollution, which a spokesman called “the biggest environmental risk to public health in the UK.” As the shift to electric cars accelerates, the threat to auto brands is quickly moving from hypothetical to the real.